Farming groups in Clare are expressing hope that a stark report into the future of the farming sector will act as a wake up call for the government.
The Fiscal Advisory Council’s Irish Farm Report 2019 has found that almost 40% of beef farmers are unsure if they will still be in operation in as little as five years time.
IFAC’s first ever report into the Irish farming sector, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a tough pill to swallow for farmers.
Over 2,000 of them were surveyed and the results made one thing abundantly clear – the sector is in danger, with many farmers questioning the viability of their business going forward.
The suckler sector in particular has been badly hit, with 38% of beef farmers unsure if they will still be working in the sector in five years’ time.
The Cratloe-based General Secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association Eddie Punch says there’s nothing to encourage younger people to take up the baton.
IFAC’s report also highlighted that issue of succession as one major headache.
Of those surveyed, some 86% had no clear succession plan in place, while 43% admitted their farm wasn’t profitable enough for the next generation to take on.
Add into that the fact that 80% of farmers rely on an off-farm source of income and the future of farming in Ireland appears to be in a bleak state.
O’Callaghan’s Mills farmer Martin McMahon is the Clare chair of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association and fears those farming in the west in particular are caught between a rock and a hard place.
