Earlier this week, Agriland made the trip west to Co. Mayo for the Land Mobility service and Aurivo farm walk, on the farm of Irvine and Liz Moore.

Located just outside Ballina, the farm had been operated by Irvine and Liz as a suckler and beef farm.

When Irvine decided to take a step back from farming, none of his children were interested in the farm, so the pair looked at other options.

Through the Land Mobility service, they leased to farm to a local dairy farmer, Michael Langan.

L to R: Irvine Moore; Liz Moore; Michael Larkin (Land Mobility service);
Michael Langan and Majella McCafferty (Aurivo)

Land mobility

The attendees at the event heard from Michael Larkin from the Land Mobility service about options the service makes available to farmers, such as: long-term leasing, share farming, contract rearing and short-term loans.

Michael outlined how the process works: “I would have gotten a call from Liz and Irvine in late 2019 and a farm visit/consultation was arranged.

“A farm profile is developed, which determined that a long-term lease was most suitable for this farm.

“It was the best fit for Liz and Irvine for several reason, with tax relief one of these reasons.”

Continuing, Michael said: “If you enter into a long-term lease, greater than five years, the income generated for the land owner from the lease is tax free.

“So straight away there is a monetary incentive to encourage land owners to mobilise land and let the next generation come in and farm it.”

Michael added that Liz and Irvine wanted some security as well, which a long-term lease offers – both the land owner and person coming in.

“A long-term lease means you are dealing with the same person all the time,” said Michael.

“Once this had been decide a price is agreed and then it is about finding the right person,” he continued.

“The Land Mobility has a database of young farmers looking for land, the farmers that are interested are then invited to the farm.

“They meet with the land owner and for various reasons it may not suit some people, but the majority will then come back with a detailed plan for the farm.”

Michael highlighted that a long with working alongside the land owner, Land Mobility also works with the incoming farmer. This ensures that their plan is fair and sustainable.

Stepping back

Outlining why the decision was made to take a step back from farming and why they chose Michael Langan, Irvine said: “I started farming here alongside my father and then went farming in my own right.

“I was farming predominately suckler cows, but as our children went off to college we found it was getting more and more laboursome on ourselves.

“I moved into dry stock, but myself and drystock never really marinated. I found it a very big change going out and buying in stock.

“So looking at options that would suit myself and Liz, we made contact with Michael from the Land mobility service.”

Continuing, Irvine said: “Michael explained the whole process to us and took away a lot of the headaches. We outlined what we wanted for the farm and the type of person we were looking for.

“He took all we wanted on board and came back with a number of options for us.

“Michael brought a number of farmers here, they walked the land and we had a chat with them.

“But I liked Michael’s manner from the start; we got on well and I liked what his plans were.

“We are living on the farm so not only did we want someone who would get on well with us, but also with our neighbours.”

“It was a very big decision for Irvine, with this being his home farm,” added Liz

“After discussing it with our children, we had to look at other options. We did not want to sell, so this is what we came up with.

“It was the best option for us and it has worked really well.”

Irvine and Liz said that making the decision at this stage has allowed them to go away on holidays and attend family events.

They added that they have a much better lifestyle now and have much more free time.

Nitrates

Michael has 120 cows on the now dairy farm. The leased land is being used as a support block for the home farm, with replacement heifers, silage and some beef cattle kept on the farm.

A major factor in Michael’s decision to lease the farm was due to him being in derogation, and that he would no longer need to lease land from year to year.

Michael said: “It was a very well-kept farm and had the right amount of acres for me.

“I was farming in derogation and things were changing all the time with nitrates.

“Leasing this block of land just gave me the flexibility that if things change I won’t have to reduce cow numbers at home.

“Farming in derogation, the rules were changing all the time and I was very afraid of what might happen.”

“Leasing the farm here has gotten me out of derogation and has allowed me to increase numbers at home,” he said.

Giving some insight into his relationship with Liz and Irvine, Michael said: “We do get on really well, sometimes the chats are half the day.

“Irvine spots stuff that I don’t; he will fix a wire that is down for me, so it is working really well for us.

“Having the land here has allowed me to make the most of home. I have reduced my fertiliser bills, because I am not as intense on the home block.”

Don’t wait

Michael Larkin advised the farmers in attendance that it is important to act now and not to wait.

“The amount of farmers that tell me they should have done it sooner and ‘why did we wait so long’,” he said.

“If you explore your options you can make a decision that suits you and your farm.

“You may not do it straight away, but once you explore your options you can make an informed decision.”

Michael Larkin from Land Mobility service