More hands on the land! Talamh Beo call for new incentives for young farmers

Talamh Beo wants a future for farming on the island of Ireland – a future based on Agroecology and Food Sovereignty. That means more farmers producing healthy nutritious food for their communities, working with nature, and producing and exchanging what we need with other countries and populations according to mutual benefit.

However, farming in Ireland faces serious challenges – and its weakest link is the age profile of farmers themselves. Almost one third of us are over 65 years old – and only 20 percent are under 45 years old. The number of young farmers (under 35) in Ireland is now just 4.3%*, down from 5%* in 2016 — a worrying trend despite introduction of the “Complementary Support for Young Farmers” in 2015. While many EU countries offer young farmers installation grants of up to €40,000 to support new enterprises and farm diversification, Ireland chose instead to channel this CAP funding into an area-based payment scheme that largely benefits those who already have land and infrastructure — effectively locking out landless new entrants.

It’s time for us all to wake up to the reality on the ground. Many farmers have no clear successors, the current structure of farming – poor prices and incomes, institutions focused solely on exports and volume- is generally unattractive to young people, and generational renewal is a challenge for many farm families.

This suits the agroindustry – the Irish government strategy appears to be to consolidate and concentrate further dairy production for export, allow “non profitable” farms to disappear into enlarged enterprises and forestry, and further concentrate and increase dairy production in specific zones.

That is not a future that Talamh Beo can support. We need diversified land use across the country, with mixed farms, food, fuel and fibre production integrated into our water catchments and specific landscapes, restoring ecosystems and natural water and carbon processes. We need young people, more farmers and more hands on the land.

Young people are the best placed to undertake this transition in land use. Almost all our youth are locked out of access to land in Ireland. We urgently need a strategy for generational renewal which offers a new lease of life to Irish rural communities and ensures a future for Irish farming.

We propose the development of a new strategy for generational renewal incorporating social innovation, farm organizations, community groups, local authorities and a new Irish Land Trust all working to develop local agroecological food production in Ireland.

There is huge room for growth in income substitution of Ireland’s 83% of imported fruit and vegetables through wholesale as well as direct marketing if the incentives are put in place.

Ireland should act now to meet the crisis of generational renewal and ensure more farmers can access land and livelihoods in Ireland – inaction simply means that the government is aware of the problem, but has chosen to abandon rural communities and farms.

Talamh Beo want to see:

• The introduction of a young farmer installation grant of up to 40,000 euros for young qualified farmers taking up a new enterprise (as is available in many other European countries through CAP funding)
• Free training, advisory, mentoring and support services in Agroecology for new entrants
• Planning exemptions for eco housing for young farmers establishing enterprises on green field sites
• The introduction of long term agricultural  leases specifically orientated for agroecological farming, with the right to renew the lease
• That public bodies/local authorities make existing land they own available for long leaseholds for agroecological farming projects in urban areas
• The establishment of a Irish Land Trust which takes land into trust and facilitates long term leases to new entrants for agroecological food production, as well as supporting inter-generational land transfer
• Price controls on land sales; land is too important to be left solely to the market
• The establishment of a public land purchase mechanism to give pre emption rights of first option to new entrants when land in their area is placed on the market in order to prevent land concentration and absentee ownership

These measures must be accompanied by market reform to ensure fair prices for farmers, public procurement mechanisms, a Local Food Policy Framework and associated investment in rural development, transport and social infrastructure.

To encourage young people to join Talamh Beo and be part of the solution — ensuring access to land and the right to make a living from food production — we are offering FREE MEMBERSHIP to anyone under 30.  Use the coupon code Under30 when signing up. 

Join the movement for a new generation of farmers!

www.talamhbeo.ie | info@talamhbeo.ie

 * Farm Structure Survey 2016 and 2023 (CSO)