Farmers are encouraged to attend a free farm succession seminar being held by Teagasc and AIB this Thursday.

The seminar will be a Knowledge Transfer (KT) eligible event.

Although one in four Irish farms are expected to change hands in the coming decade, farm succession is rarely talked about or indeed planned for.

Very often, there is the belief that a son/daughter will take over the farm business, but no communication or discussions around succession or inheritance actually takes place.

Some of the benefits of successful farm succession planning will be discussed by a number of key speakers this Thursday, March 8, at a seminar organised by AIB in partnership with Teagasc.

Chaired by Peter Mullan, Teagasc, and Charlie Kane, AIB, speakers on the night include: Tom Curran, Teagasc succession specialist; William Henry of Henry & Co Solicitors; Chris Gonley, CEO of Sligo LEADER; Ciaran Kerins, Teagasc education specialist; and Barry Hyland, AIB agricultural advisor.

AIB’s Barry Hyland said: “The sector has benefited from the increased influx of educated, motivated and eager young farmers in recent years.

There was a welcome recovery in output prices across many sectors in 2017, which helped support more positive incomes on many farms.

“Unfortunately, however, market sentiment has softened somewhat in certain sectors; which, when combined with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and CAP reform, is making it more difficult for farmers to plan ahead and best position their farms for the future.”

The seminar is taking place in the Sligo Park Hotel on Thursday March 8, starting at 7:30pm.

Further details and information is available from Sabrina Brosnan, who can be contacted on: 071-9301081.