Crisis looms for farmers who quit
According to IFA leader John Dillon, no one has yet put forward a solution as to where these farmers are going to go and what they are going to do.
Farm consultant Philip Farrelly has predicted that the number of full-time farmers could plummet to 2,000 within five or seven years, following the Fischler Reform of the CAP. He based his analysis on a full decoupling reform, making a much increased scale of production necessary to make farming viable.
Mr Dillon predicts that the number of dairy farmers will fall by at least 10,000, and there will also be a loss of 3,000 jobs in dairy processing, as further rationalisation and streamlining becomes necessary for competitiveness in world markets.
He said the move towards part-time farming in the livestock sector is likely to continue, with less emphasis on scale of production following the changes in direct payments. “The major problem facing the agricultural industry which has not been addressed is where those who are leaving farming are going to go”, he said.
He said that the majority of farmers are not training to take up any other form of employment and very many are middle aged, which leaves them less attractive for an employer to train into new work skills.
Recent Teagasc figures for 2002 showed that more than one in three of all farmers are now engaged in off-farm employment, up 2% over the past year, and continuing a trend evident for a number of years.
