Farm partnerships and share farming discussed at conference

A NEW way of farming was outlined at a conference attended by 200 delegates in Horse and Jockey, Co Tipperary.

It focused on farm partnerships and share farming at a time when farms in Ireland are facing falling output prices on one hand and rising input costs on the other.

The benefits that farmers can achieve by co-operating in joint farming arrangements were explored at the conference.

There are 556 milk production partnerships in Ireland. A number who are farming in this way outlined their experiences.

Delegates heard how the average farm size in Ireland is small, relative to our competitors in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, South America, the US and Canada.

They were also told that the full benefits of advances in mechanisation and technology can only be reaped by increasing the average acreage farmed.

Teagasc specialist Ben Roche said a family farm is unlikely to continue and prosper unless it is viable economically and socially.

He said Teagasc can provide information and assistance to farmers who wish to look at partnerships or share farming as an option to increase scale or improve economic and social viability for the future.

Mr Roche said entering a farm partnership offers benefits, such as the ability to achieve scale at lower cost, the reduction of costs which are duplicated between farmers, manage synergy and share risk.

Mr Roche described it as a joint venture between two separate farming businesses where two people, a land owner and a share farmer, jointly farm the same area of land as separate enterprises, but remaining separate and independent for accounting and tax purposes.

Teagasc researcher Áine Macken Walsh said joint farming agreements can also reduce isolation by bringing social contact into the workplace and by freeing up time for farmers’ social activities.