Crisis looms as half of farmers have no successor

Irish farms may be left without a next generation to work them after a study showed there was no successor primed to take over in almost half of all holdings.

The results of the Macra na Feirme Land Mobility and Succession in Ireland study showed that 48% of those surveyed did not have a farming successor identified to take on the farm.

The study also used data from the CSO to show that only 6.2% of farmers are under 35 years of age, while 26.3% of farmers are aged over 65.