Shortage of young Irish farmers a threat to food output, EU warned
They were told that Ireland has more farmers aged over 80 than under 35, when Eric Driver, representing Macra na Feirme, took part in a recent EU conference, ‘The CAP towards 2020 — taking stock with civil society’.
The high-level, invitation-only conference featured Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos, and Cypriot minister for agriculture and president of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Sofoclis Aletraris.
It was in the workshop sessions that Mr Driver outlined the importance of young farmers’ roles in ensuring food security.
Mr Driver outlined the policy position of CEJA, the European Council of Young Farmers, which includes a comprehensive start-up package for young people attempting to enter the sector.
The Tullow, Co Carlow, young farmer is vice-chairperson of Macra na Feirme’s national agricultural affairs committee.
He has been a farmer since 2008, on 60 hectares of rented land, operating without a single farm payment or installation aid, and working part-time as assistant manager of Tullow Mart.
He told the conference, in Brussels, that Ireland has fewer than 6% of farmers under 35.
He said a young farmer installation aid package initially represented 1.2% of the CAP programme in Ireland, but was only 0.02% of the spend from 2007 to 2013, due to Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith suspending the scheme in Oct, 2008.
