Young farmers require all the support necessary should they take over family farms, this is according to Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus. As young farmers face the world bright eyed and bushy tailed, their fairy tale of managing a farm soon takes on another dimension as reality settles in.
MacManus was speaking after a visit to Mountbellew Agricultural College in Co. Galway and raised these stark realities facing young farmers:
- Access to credit
- Debt
- Mental health
- Full time versus part-time divide as being the most significant problems for those farmers taking over holdings
On concerns regarding debt management on farms, MacManus says that young farmers do need access to credit and as much support as possible to manage their debt levels. Particularly in the dairy sector, the level of investment required to get to scale is in the hundreds of thousands.
MacManus reiterated that taking on large amounts of debt also added to the state of one’s mental health. He firmly stated that he disagreed with government sending mixed messages regarding the sector and sustainability of full-time farmers. The focus of government should be shifted, he says, in order to ensure that farm viability is tackled in order to guarantee young farmers can have a fair standard of living from full-time farming.
LSL News.