Farmers cutting back but less affected by recession
According to the Irish Examiner/ICMSA survey, the farming community seems to be weathering the storm of the recession better than the rest of the population.
While most farmers are cutting back, the levels are quite low with most primarily lowering their spend on large purchases (56%).
For example, the number of farmers cutting back on things like the cinema (7%), driving a different car (5%), health insurance (8%), clothing (10%), family holidays (21%), going to the pub (21%), and eating out (27%) remain quite low in comparison to the rest of the country.
The most recent Credit Crunch tracking survey by Red C in June found that more than one third of people feel the recession has had a high impact on them in the past three months. Some 38% said it was having a high impact on their monthly spending with 33% saying it had a high impact on their way of life.
For example, about 35% of those surveyed said they planned to decrease their spending on socialising and eating out either a little or a lot in the next six months. One in five planned to decrease their grocery spend, with 33% reducing spend on consumer goods and services and 38% cutting back on holidays and short breaks in the next six months.
Despite the difficulties the sector has endured, farmers remain overwhelmingly optimistic about their future.
The vast majority said they would not change their lot even if they had the chance. Just one in 10 surveyed said they would choose an alternative career to farming if they could have the time back again.
Almost 80% were positive about both farming and farming in their sector as a whole. The most optimistic sectors were dairy (83%), livestock/cattle (80%) and tillage (87%). The most pessimistic sector was in ‘other’ types of farming but even this came in at 57%.
In fact, the survey found that 34% of farmers would like to expand their farms, either by buying land or renting in land. Just 3% said they would leave farming, with 2% planning to sell their land. A total of 54% planned no changes.
Asked about what they thought was “most likely” to happen as regards their future, one in four farmers said they expected to expand their operations with 63% expecting no changes. Once again, the number planning to leave the industry was small at just 3%.
This eagerness to expand was particularly prevalent among young farmers where 43% of those under 35 years old said they hoped to buy or rent land in the next five years. A third of those in the 35 to 44 year old bracket also planned on expanding while, over one in five of those aged between 55 and 64 said they would likely buy or rent land in the next five years.
Such is the degree of optimism among the farming community, a staggering 71% said they planned to leave the farm to a son or a daughter.
Just 1% indicated that they would sell up with 10% stating the holding would go to an extended family member or would be divided out between siblings.
*See tomorrow for more findings from the Irish Examiner/ICMSA survey
