The vote on Thursday (October 19) in the European Parliament on young farmers has been welcomed by both Macra and CEJA, the umbrella group for European young farmer organisations.
The parliament adopted a report from the parliament’s agriculture committee that seeks to ensure generational renewal on EU farms and to remove barriers to new entrant and young farmers.
The resolution on “generational renewal in the EU farms of the future” was adopted by 447 votes to 14, with seven abstentions, and warns that demographic decline is more pronounced in rural populations and among farmers than in other parts of society.
MEPs are calling for public policies creating “fair and dignified income and a quality of life” for farmers and their families to encourage generational renewal on EU farms.
Macra president Elaine Houlihan said: “To address the crisis in Irish and European Agriculture, young farmers need to be front and centre to all agricultural policy and budgetary decisions.
“We need to move away from talking and reporting about the lack of young farmers to achieving action and putting greater resources behind the issue… We now have ample evidence and reports, what we need is action at member state level,” Houlihan added.
MACRA on CAP
Houlihan said that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one element of how to support young farmers, while a change to taxation policy and the introduction of favourable initiatives around finance and land access are “essential at member state level”.
“The introduction of a succession model in Ireland where we support the control of vibrant farm businesses by young farmers is vital. Our focus in the past has been on land assets rather than on the business as a going concern,” she said.
“We need to move the dial in favour of a succession model and supports to encourage more young people into farming. This is why Macra has proposed a farm succession scheme,” she added.
The Macra president continued: “I call on our politicians at EU and Irish level to put young farmers first, to turn their words into actions and to support initiatives that secure the future of Irish agriculture and rural areas.”
CEJA
CEJA, meanwhile, said that European young farmers would be “closely monitoring the next steps that this report should trigger in all agri-food related policies”.
The young farmers group said that the report “must serve as a basis for the upcoming strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture, the discussions on the CAP post-2027, and more generally for the European elections next June.”
Peter Meedendorp, CEJA president and tillage farmer from the Netherlands, commented: “A report recognising the present need for generational renewal is bound to win political consensus. It must also spur actions.
“While success stories of young farmers installations are often those visible, let us not forget that many young people do not dare to start up, or simply fail because of inadequate conditions to sustainably invest in a farm, earn a decent income, and have a life plan in more attractive rural areas,” Meedendorp added.
CEJA is calling on the European Commission and the Council of the EU to formally reply to the European Parliament.