New scheme 'a benefit to farmers organising their succession plan'

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced the launch of the Succession Planning Advice Grant recently.

A new scheme announced in recent days has been welcomed by farm organisations as a "benefit to farmers organising their succession plan".

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced the launch of the Succession Planning Advice Grant, saying that while not unique to Ireland, "I recognise that there are considerable demographic challenges in the agricultural sector".

"This scheme will help older farmers to plan for their future and the future of their farms, by providing financial support towards the costs of legal and financial advice for succession planning," Mr McConalogue said.

"It is very important to be able to assist farmers in making what can be very difficult but ultimately very important decisions about the future of their farming enterprise. 

"This scheme will be an important addition to the range of supports for generational renewal already in place, including significant agri-taxation supports; and strong supports for young farmers and collaborative farming under the CAP Strategic Plan."

Objectives

The objectives of the Succession Planning Advice Grant Scheme are to:

• Encourage best practice in intergenerational land transfer to address, among other things, significant generational imbalances within farming;
• Encourage and support farmers aged 60 years and above to seek succession planning advice by contributing up to 50% of vouched legal, accounting, and advisory costs, subject to a maximum payment of €1,500.

An information webinar for the new scheme is scheduled for September 6, at 7pm.

The scheme will open from September 19, with paper application forms available at the National Ploughing Championships and from the Department of Agriculture website.

Applications will be open until the end of 2023 and the first tranche payment will be in quarter one of 2024.

Essential to have a plan

Irish Farmers' Association farm family and social affairs chairwoman Alice Doyle has welcomed the new scheme, saying it will be a "benefit to farmers organising their farm succession plan".

"It is essential for every farmer to have a farm succession plan in place," Ms Doyle said. 

"There are complex legal and taxation rules that, if planned for, can be managed easily. 

"With this new scheme in place, it will encourage farmers to avail of this grant and help plan the future of their farms."

Never too early

Macra president Elaine Houlihan has called on all farmers to look to the future, saying that "it is never too early to commence succession planning". 

In an IFAC study of 2,000 farmers in 2019, it was discovered that 86% of this cohort did not have a succession plan in place. 

Given that over a third of all farmers are over the age of 65, "it is imperative for the future of our industry that farmers engage with services that can assist with succession planning, services such as the Land Mobility Service", Macra said.

"This is not the first time that financial incentives have been introduced to facilitate succession; we have the €5,000 tax credit available for succession partnerships since 2017, we have approximately 280 financial supports available under CAP, yet less than 7% of farmers are under the age of 35," Ms Houlihan said.

The payment of up to €1,500 to farmers who avail themselves of professional services is welcomed. 

"It will assist in generational renewal - it will not on its own move the dial from less than 7% to where it should be."

Macra said it continues to work with Government on the development of its succession scheme, "that will deliver significant change in Irish farming circles and will be a model for the rest of the EU to emulate".