Only 4% of Irish Farmers Are Under 35, Industry Leaders Warn
The president of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) says only 4% of farmers in Ireland are under 35. The EU Agriculture Commissioner added that more than nine in 10 farmers could reach retirement age within 25 years.
Irish farming faces a generational renewal problem, with only 4% of the country's farmers under the age of 35. Edward Carr, president of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), made the warning on Thursday, November 5, at the Ag Renew Ireland Summit in Ireland. The issue affects the whole sector, as the future of farms and food production depends on it.
Age profile
Ireland has 130,000 farms, and more than a third of the people farming them are over 65. Carr said young people today have far more career choices than previous generations, while barriers to entering agriculture remain high. In his view, the question is no longer only who is farming today, but who will be farming tomorrow.
He noted that the coming AI revolution will bring major technological and societal change. Against that background, he asked how farming can become a career of choice in which young people see a future, can raise a family and grow their businesses, earning a viable and sustainable living.
Warning from the European Commission
In a video address to the summit, Christophe Hansen, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, warned that more than nine in 10 farmers could reach retirement age within the next 25 years. He said that if people want fridges and supermarket shelves to stay full, this is a hard truth that must be faced.
Hansen stressed the role of co-operatives in generational renewal: they bring farming, processing, retail and international markets under one roof, and help open international markets to young farmers. He added that the next EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must support the whole journey of generational renewal.
