Five reasons why 50pc of Irish farms still don’t

Studies have shown that farmers who have a designated successor for their farm business are considerably more motivated to drive on their businesses than those who do not.

When the topic of ‘no successors’ is discussed, many think of farm families who have no children, but the real ‘no successor’ story concerns farmers with children who are not interested in farming or taking over the farm business.

A recent survey stated that 50pc of farmers have no successors. I often wonder about such results, as these surveys pose the succession questions to farmers and not the successors.

The farmer might have a successor in mind, but that child/successor may have a different plan altogether. Therefore, there may be many more farm businesses without successors.

Most adult children are interested in getting ownership of the land but many have no interest in a career in farming. This situation has prompted me to consider why many farm businesses have no successors and look at the options open to farmers.

Here are the five main reasons why 50pc of Irish farms have no designated successor:

SIZE / VIABILITY

The average Irish farm is approximately 40ha and the average income in 2011-2016 was €25,362. Clearly this is not an attractive career for today’s millennials, who are attracted by the bright lights of the city and the salaries/ modern working conditions in the Googles and Apples of this world.

However, larger, developed farm businesses will provide the income and standard of living expected in today’s world. know the possibilities for the farm business and educate or encourage their children appropriately.

GAP IS TOO SHORT

Even on viable farms a 25-year-old successor may not relish the thought of working with 55-year-old parents for 15 years until they reach a pension age. This is a new problem caused by people living longer and the funding of more extravagant lifestyles in retirement.

Perhaps parents who want the family farm business to continue should consider exiting the business at an earlier age to give the neces- sary freedom to successors.

Like it or not, farming is a tough physical job, and many of today’s millennials simply choose not to live the lifestyle irrespective of the salary. This is just a fact of life.

CHOICE

The ease of access to third-level education and the globalisation of the workforce provides a multitude of choice for today’s children; they are fully entitled to explore their dreams and ambitions in other careers.

The challenge here is to make farming a more attractive career so at the