Emotions, self-worth and pride have to be factored into farm transfers

A study by NUI Galway and Teagasc researchers has pinpointed some of the problems – and solutions – in relation to the transfer of the family farm from the older incumbent to the next generation. FRANCIS FARRAGHER looks at the main points of the report.

THE emotional lifetime link that older farmers have with their land is one of the major issues that must be faced up to in terms of farm transfers from one generation to the next, according to the findings of a major NUIG study.

One of the fundamental flaws of many short-lived early retirement schemes, the report points out, was the specification that farmers seeking to retire under the scheme, ‘had to cease agricultural activity forever’.

According to the study – carried out by Dr. Shane Francis Conway, Dr. John McDonagh, Dr. Maura Farrell (all NUI Galway) and Anne Kinsella of Teagasc –  such previous schemes had little or no regard for the older farmers’ emotions.

The study also points out that across Europe, an ageing farming population and a steady decline in the number of young families involved in agriculture, are key factors in the ‘demoralisation of rural communities’ where the farms are located.

“The reasons why older farmers fail to plan effectively and expeditiously for the future are expansive and range from the potential loss of identity, status and power that may occur as a result of engaging in the process, to the intrinsic multi-level relationship farmers have with their farms,” the study states.

It also points out that while accountants, solicitors and financial advisors all have essential roles to in this process [transfer of the farm], the complex array of human dynamics involved in the process has to be taken into account.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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