Stephen Cadogan: Europe is finally catching up with Ireland on farm relief
The EU wants more young people to choose farming as a career. One of its most practical proposals may be inspired by a service Irish farmers have benefited from for decades.
It is a tribute to Ireland’s FRS (Farm Relief Services) that making a similar organisation available in all EU member states is proposed for the new Common Agricultural Policy starting in 2027.
It is part of the EU’s push to make farming a more attractive career and enable holidays, family time and better work-life balance for the next generation of Europe’s farmers.
Officials in Brussels believe that a lack of access to rest, sick leave and family time remains one of the key factors discouraging young people from entering agriculture.
They may well be right.
Only a handful of European countries — Finland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, the Wallonia region of Belgium and Ireland — offer a farm relief service that allows farmers to step away from their responsibilities when necessary.
Farmers in these countries should not take the vital role of their farm relief services for granted. They are the envy of neighbours in other countries.
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For example, Finland’s national farm relief system is one of the longest established, having been set up in the 1960s.
It can provide up to a month away from the farm, with trained replacement workers stepping in to keep operations running.
By contrast, neighbouring Sweden has no such system, meaning livestock farmers remain tied to daily responsibilities such as milking, feeding and monitoring animals.
Farm children in Sweden grow up missing some of the holiday experiences enjoyed by other children because, at the very least, their parents must remain on the farm.
In Finland, farm children grow up more accustomed to family holidays and a life beyond work.
The CAP proposal offers member states the option to establish their own farm relief schemes, enabling farmers to access replacement workers when they are sick, on leave or dealing with family responsibilities.
The EU wants all member states to establish national strategies aimed at doubling the share of young and new farmers, with a target of reaching 24% by 2040.
Countries are encouraged to invest at least 6% of agricultural spending in generational renewal.
The strategy highlights farm relief services as a key practical lever for change, offering CAP funding to help establish such services and provide wages for replacement workers.
According to research carried out by the EU CAP Network, working conditions and work-life balance are critical but often overlooked barriers to attracting new entrants into farming.
Support systems such as farm relief services could ease the high levels of stress, burnout and isolation reported by many farmers across Europe.
Without addressing the social dimensions of farming life, from long hours to social isolation, efforts to bring a new generation into the sector risk falling short.
EU commissioner for agriculture, Christophe Hansen, has shown that he is very aware of this risk.
Speaking in Dublin last February to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, he said: “We need to make it more attractive because it is a tough job.
"It is not only about the money in the beginning but also generally about the administrative burden and so on and the obligations that our sector is facing. It is not sufficiently attractive.
“We are working as well on other points, including farm relief services because we see that the suicide rate, for example, in the farming sector is very high. That is very worrying.
"If we compare it with other economic sectors, when people have animals, they do not have time to go on holiday or even have time to take a sick day. That is why we proposed this farm relief services to make the sector more attractive again.”
He has also said: “Talking about farmers' wellbeing, we are for the first time recognising the necessity for farmers to balance professional duties and family responsibilities.
“We therefore foresee for the first time that it is possible to provide support for farm relief services facilitating replacement of farmers during sickness, childbirth or holidays.”
Farm relief services may not be the most eye-catching element of the next CAP, but they could prove to be one of the most important.
For many farmers, particularly livestock farmers, taking a holiday, attending a family event or simply taking time off when illness strikes remains extremely difficult.
If Europe is serious about attracting a new generation into farming, improving quality of life must form part of the solution.
On this issue, Ireland has already shown what is possible.
