‘Hamlet without the prince’

We contributed to the Commission on the same basis that we contribute to any forum dealing with the interests and welfare of Irish farm families: in good faith and with a focus on workable, evidence-based solutions. That was the basis for our involvement, and that is why there can be no disguising the vacuum at the heart of the report’s conclusions.

Income issue

A report such as this that does not – or will not – deal with the question of income is reduced to a performance of 'Hamlet without the prince.' Like every other occupation, income is the central component. We’ve looked at the report’s conclusions and we can’t see anything in there that’s going to give young people considering farming as a career a consistent income. That’s the central problem and if we’re not going to address that, then we’re not addressing anything, really.
The report, regrettably, seems to proceed from the now very obsolete idea that farming is a ‘way of life’. That’s not going to cut it with future generations who are absolutely going to opt for a career, farming or other, based on income and free time in a way that previous generations would have found difficult to understand.

The future of farming is based on the long overdue realisation that it needs to deliver an income on a consistent basis in line with other sectors of the economy and that is not the situation now. Where we see the kinds of falls and fluctuations in income that we’re experiencing right now, then it becomes harder to convince young people to consider farming. 

Complexity

Compounding that uncertainty about the income, we have massive over-regulation and administrative complexity that overwhelm so many farmers. Seeing their parents trying to deal with such regulation and weighing it up against other professions and potential incomes lead the younger generation to vote with their feet. They are picking the perceived easier option. And who can blame them?
Since the 2026 Budget was announced, it’s almost a certainty that dairy farmers have lost around €10,000 as a result of month-on-month drastic falls in milk price. The ICMSA would have expected the report to make some reference to the farm organisations’ decade of lobbying for a measure to deal with excessive income volatility for sole trader farmers. The absence of any reference to unpredictable and excessive swings in farmer income is a near-disqualifying aspect of the Commission’s report. How can you have generational renewal without addressing the biggest obstacle to entering farming: income volatility?

The issue is critical for young farmers and new entrants, and the existing ineffective option – income averaging – excludes new entrants for the first five years. The Commission must do better than this. We must make farming a real option for young people. 

Step in the right direction

The ICMSA has called for 1 per cent interest rates for young farmers, alongside stronger supports for start-up finance. In fairness, there are three recommendations around access to finance in the report, and if all three were implemented, it would certainly be a step in the right direction. But as it stands, young farmers are likely to be carrying historic farm debt, mortgage costs, and future investment costs. It’s a lot for anyone starting out and that burden needs to be alleviated. We also support the report’s focus on promoting and normalising female succession on Irish farms and proactive measures are required.

We see many farmers with no successor choosing the solar farm route. We’d encourage them to look seriously at share farming instead. We must protect good agricultural land from being lost to non-farming uses. It’s staggering that we have 42 per cent of farmers having no identified successor, this issue needs immediate attention, and we just can’t go on tweaking and rejigging slightly; we must recognise that there’s a real crisis getting the next generation onto their farms. The minister must lay out a three-year plan with implementation timelines and must, as an absolute priority, indicate how we are going to deal with the single biggest obstacle to generational renewal,