Access to finance for young farmers was one of the key issues that came up at a major meeting on generational renewal today (Thursday, November 5).

The AgRenew Ireland Summit took place in Naas, Co. Kildare, and featured agri-sector stakeholders, politicians and policymakers.

The event was organised by the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) in association with the Golden Jubilee Trust, a Dublin-based charity for promoting the agricultural co-operative movement.

The event was opened by a speech from Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon, and also featured a video message from European Commissioner Christophe Hansen.

Young farmers were central to the day's proceedings, with most of the panel discussions featuring a number of young people who have, or are trying, to establish themselves in the sector.

Agriland spoke with a number of them during the event, and access to finance was a common theme.

Ciara Ryan, who is also manager of Mid Tipp Mart in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, said: "The big things we spoke about were really around access to finance for young farmers and access to land for young farmers.

"And I suppose one of the big things is that it depends on the geographical area. In some areas there’s obviously a big challenge as regards access to land, and maybe in other areas not so much access to land but more so access to finance, be it either to purchase stock or to purchase land, or to get loans for doing investment, for livestock [and] capital infrastructure," Ryan added.

"I suppose the big thing is around trying to get supports in place for young farmers, be it putting together business plans; or having relationships with bank managers without necessarily having any assets to go to them with," she said.

Similarly, Kildare-based dairy farmer Conor Wynne highlighted the challenge of young farmers trying to seek finance with few pre-existing assets.

He said: "A big point of contention is around young farmers accessing finance.

"I myself found it very hard - with having no security there, no assets - getting into farming, to access finance.

"I was able to get an unsecured loan, but - not that it didn’t make a dent - but I suppose that sum in the grand scheme of things was miniscule really," he added.

"It’s very, very hard for young people who are looking to break into the industry to try and have that access to finance without any assets," Wynne told Agriland.

Westmeath-based dairy farmer Cian Jobe also cited access to finance.

"We need to come up with some sort of a system that makes it easier for young people to access finance," he said.

According to Jobe, some of the loan and financing systems that are already in place come with "a lot of criteria" in order to apply for them, and are restrictive in terms of what the loan can be used for.

"There’s just a lot to be done, that we can do, to make the industry more attractive to young people to keep them coming in," he said.

Apart from access to finance, Jobe also noted another issue that was mentioned several times at today's event: that of farmers' lifestyles and work-life balance.

"There’s still farmers that are milking cows at 9 and 10 o'clock at night, no one wants to do that. I suppose it's about bringing a bit of structure into people’s days, and rosters and stuff, to make the industry more attractive and make it a job people want to do," he said.