Macra president Josephine O’Neill has called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to “wake up” to the scale of the generational renewal challenge in farming.

In her address to the Taoiseach at Macra’s National Conference in Adare on Saturday 24th October, the president said that meaningful progress on generational renewal has been painfully slow.

The president encouraged the Taoiseach to be a “H1 student” who delivers a Common Agricultural Policy post-2027 that genuinely secures a future for young farmers.

She said: “Generational renewal must become a national priority, supported by meaningful domestic policies and funding. Taoiseach, your government cannot simply point towards Brussels and hope that Europe will solve a problem that requires action here at home. You need to wake up to the scale of this challenge before we sleepwalk into a crisis from which Irish agriculture may struggle to recover.”

placeholder image — Macra president Josephine O’Neill

With the Common Agricultural Policy post-2027 a central focus of Macra’s National Conference, the president said that we need a CAP budget that can actually deliver on its ambitions and that provides 10% ring-fenced funding for young farmers.

An ambitious and meaningful Starter Pack for young farmers must also be delivered. And at the very heart of that Starter Pack must be Installation Aid.

The Macra president added: “For far too long, Macra has been calling for this vital support. And yet, Ireland has continued to fail to provide the dedicated Installation Aid, a support that Macra has consistently advocated for.

“We cannot continue to put our young farmers at a competitive disadvantage compared with their European counterparts.

“We cannot expect young Irish farmers to compete on a level playing field if we refuse to give them the same opportunities.”

Another key demand outlined by the president in the next CAP is the introduction of a dedicated succession scheme.

O'Neill said: “Succession is one of the greatest barriers to generational renewal in Irish agriculture. Too often, the transfer of farm management is delayed, leaving young people unable to make decisions, access supports or invest confidently in the future of the business.”

The president told the conference when initial CAP proposals were published, Macra was heartened to see generational renewal placed at the centre of the conversation.

She said: “Finally, there appeared to be a glimmer of hope. Finally, there was recognition at European level that the future of agriculture depends on supporting the next generation.

“And perhaps, we thought, if our own Government was unwilling to deliver the supports we had been calling for, the next CAP might finally compel it to do so.

“But as negotiations have progressed, that initial optimism has become increasingly difficult to maintain. The proposed budget is deeply disappointing.

“The ambition for young farmers is being weakened. And with every stage of the negotiations, the prospect of a CAP that genuinely delivers for the next generation appears to be slipping further away.

“We cannot allow that to happen. Not when so much is at stake. Not when the demographic challenges facing agriculture are becoming more urgent by the day.

“And certainly not when we have a generation of young farmers whose futures depend on the decisions being made.”

The tragedy of this situation, the president added, is that we have young people who want to farm.

She warned: “We have ambitious, innovative, hardworking young people who want to build a future in agriculture.

They want to take over family farms. They want to develop new enterprises. They want to invest in their communities and contribute to the future of Irish food production.

But increasingly, the barriers standing in their way are simply becoming too great to overcome.

“The challenges are many, but the supports are few.”