Commission on Generational Renewal 'a long time coming'
Macra has welcomed Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue's intention to establish such a commission, which is a positive action to "address the lack of young farmers in Ireland".
The establishment of a Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming is a "long time coming", Macra president Elaine Houlihan has said.
Macra has welcomed Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue's intention to establish such a commission, which is a positive action to "address the lack of young farmers in Ireland and the threat that this brings to Irish food production", Ms Houlihan said.
Making the announcement, Mr McConalogue said that encouraging young people into agriculture is a "global challenge".
"I expect the European Commission to publish its proposals for a post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy in mid-2025," he said.
"Against this background, this is an appropriate time to consider whether the framework currently in place provides support to young farmers thinking of entering the sector and effectively encourages generational renewal.
“We have already put in place an unprecedented range of supports for young farmers, including support for farm partnerships, the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers, higher rates of grants for capital investment on farm, increased access to finance and significant agri taxation reliefs.
“These are positive initiatives, but the time has come to have an honest and absolutely objective look at this, to consider whether those measures are having the desired effect, how supports might best be configured to encourage generational renewal."
Mr McConalogue said that farm succession is a "complex area", with many factors that impact farmers’ decisions.
"We need to properly assess this and consider whether there are any unintended barriers to entry for young people under the current regime," he continued.
“With this in mind, I intend to establish a group with the relevant expertise and experience to take an objective and robust evidence-based look at all of the factors in play to ensure that we have a well-researched basis for us to make optimal use of the policy tools available to encourage young people, who are the lifeblood of farming, into the sector.”
Elaine Houlihan said that Macra "looks forward to a positive engagement with the committee on generational renewal in farming".
"Our members are those who are emigrating because they do not have access to land; our patience is at an end," she said.
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president Sean McNamara said that the proposal to establish this commission shows "recognition of the challenges young farmers face" and "intention to critically evaluate existing supports" which are "steps in the right direction".
"However, this must be followed by tangible action if we are to secure the future of Irish farming,” he said.
"High land prices, limited access to credit, overregulation, and the uncertainty surrounding farm incomes remain significant barriers. There are also significant challenges related to succession planning and land transfers that need urgent attention."
President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association Denis Drennan criticised the Government’s "inability or unwillingness to accept that the difficulties in getting young people to commit to farming" are "directly linked to collapsing farm incomes and ever-increasing regulatory pressures".
“There’s something very dispiriting and discouraging about the Irish Government pretending that there’s something mysterious or unknown about the failure to get new generations into farming," Mr Drennan said.
"The reason why the children of farm families don’t want to follow their parents into farming is because those kids see the hours and years of hard work and stress and official indifference and calculate very quickly that there are easier and better-paid careers in almost any other sector.
"Those young generations have much more options than we had – and they’re exercising them. If they’re the children of a dairy family, they don’t see why they should have to work a 60-hour week for roughly half the minimum official hourly wage, so they’re not going to do it."
The ICMSA president said that for the first time in his experience, he was "hearing of parents actively dissuading their children from taking over farms that had been in the family for generations".
"All they see is falling and uncertain incomes, Governmental indifference, and regulatory stress," Mr Drennan added.
