Farm income volatility and problems around farm succession are “inextricably linked”, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has said. 

Speaking after meeting both Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Tánaiste Simon Harris, ICMSA deputy president Eamon Carroll said he had told both government figures that every single survey or forum of young farmers "identified the massive uncertainty" around income.

“We have tried and tried again to explain to successive governments that it’s increasingly obvious that we have to smooth off the most volatile elements of farm income if we are to make it in any way comparably attractive for young people," Carroll said.

"We have to accept that there are other options and sectors out there with whom farming is in competition for those young people and those competitor sectors can tell these 25-year-olds what they will earn next year to the cent.

"By contrast, we can’t even tell to within €1,000. There’s no point in saying that the market will decide what they earn.

"The point is we have to come up with a mechanism that allows farmers to put away funds in ‘good’ years that they can draw down in ‘bad’ years."

There has to be a degree of predictability, Carroll stressed.

Pointing out that any application for a mortgage will begin with an enquiry about earnings, Carroll said it was this "complete inability to say with any degree of reliability" what they would earn over the next few years that was "decisively putting young farmers off committing to the sector and to taking over their family farms".

“The Commission on Generational Renewal is now reported to be issuing their findings in September - that’ll be much too late to have any recommendations included in Budget 2026," Carroll continued.

"There is also really significant uncertainty around the nitrates derogation, CAP and TB to name three issues.   

"This just has to be faced-up to, and we must start making farming an attractive option for the next generation."