Macra welcomes Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming announcement

Macra president Elaine Houlihan said: “What we are seeing here is on the face of it action by the Minister for Agriculture to address the lack of young farmers in Ireland and the threat that this brings to Irish food production.”

She continued: “Macra has been campaigning on succession for several years, in 2015 it established the Land Mobility Service to match farmers who wanted to retire with young farmers who were seeking access to land.

“In the Macra pre-budget submission this year, we highlighted the need for a pilot succession scheme that is needed to encourage more young people to consider agriculture as a future career.”

She went on to say: “In the last round of Common Agricultural Policy, there was not one single euro allocated for farm succession supports, Macra and our members are not willing to wait to see what CAP 2027 brings, we need more than a committee.”

She also said: “Macra looks forward to a positive engagement with the committee on generational renewal in farming, our members are those who are emigrating because they do not have access to land, our patience is at an end.”

Macra commends Minister McConalogue on this initiative, “it was a long time coming”.