Macra’s Elaine Houlihan has said that the Commission on Generational Renewal must listen to younger farmers and act on farmers’ suggestions to bring youth into the farming sector.

Houlihan stated that Macra’s proposals on encouraging more young farmers into the sector are similar to what they have been for decades, but that the time for policymakers to take action is now.

The commission was convened by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue with a view to reporting back on any shortcomings in the supports available for the next generation of farmers.

It is asking for the views of the public until the end of this month to feed into its submission back to the minister.

Macra held the first of three meetings on generational renewal on Monday in Monaghan to gauge the mood of both older and younger farmers on the issue. It emerged from this meeting that both age groups of farmers are in favour of the introduction of a farm succession scheme, rather than a farm retirement scheme.

The discussions heard that a succession scheme would provide for a transition period for the ownership and decision-making responsibilities, rather than a single date full transfer from one generation to the next.

Pitfalls

This would allow for more co-operation on decisions between the retiring farmer and the new entrant, while also avoiding the pitfalls of previous farm retirement schemes which saw many older farmers completely cutoff from the farm after handing it over, those present suggested.

It was also raised that any succession scheme would need to provide a steady source of income if older farmers are to have the confidence in signing land over to their successors.

“It was interesting to see that there is nothing overly new coming out of tonight that we haven’t been calling for before,” Houlihan told the Irish Farmers Journal on Monday.

“Something that is emerging strongly is that there needs to be a transition period around any retirement or succession scheme. That is our biggest take-home point here today. A transition element is needed in any scheme brought forward.

“It was actually the older generation that were shouting for succession, not the younger generation. The older generation really want to be there to support the younger generation.”

Houlihan stated that the commissionon “actually needs to listen to young farmers right now” and to “take on board want farmers are saying”.

“For the last 40 years, generational renewal has been a massive issue and the same ideas are brought forward but nobody is listening and nobody is taking action now. They need to take action now, rather than putting it down a piece of paper.”