Land transfer a challenge: top farmer

The availability of land and the “sensible transfer” of farms from one generation to another is one of the major challenges facing the country’s young farmers, Macra na Feirme’s Young Farmer of the Year said yesterday.

For the past three years, 27-year-old John Buckley, from Bantry, Co Cork, has managed 156 dairy cows in partnership with his parents. Some of the milk produced by the Buckleys on their West Cork land goes to Glenilen Farm and Durrus Farmhouse Cheese.

“The whole thing was done properly with a legal agreement that went through the proper channels,” said John. “My father isn’t 60 yet so he’s still young, but he wanted to give me that first step onto the ladder.