Farming.AFuture?

twixie

i'm wondering more and more about the future of an irish farming culture. Where will we end up in 10 to 15 years time? Its a life, not a career, and 1 which may not be an option for the next generation. Opinions?

ravima

Its not a life, its a business and you must apply business rules

Timmaay

Hmm, I've been woundering about this also, As Ravima says at the end of the day its a business and the small inefficent farmers will not survive even if it is currently a way of life. I don't know what will happen with the price of food, it will probably keep rising but I think the costs will continue rising quicker (fertilizers, diesel, feeds), which will further put a squeeze on small farmers. Much bigger herds under business partnership with reduced costs (due to the economy of scale) will be the normal in the future.
I suppose the way of life as we know it at the minute with your house on the farm, beside the yard, and you doing everything will be a thing of the past. But still, Partnership isn't a bad thing from a lifestyle point of view, It will mean full time farmers don't have to give as much commitment (for dairy farmers anyway!, milking twice a day everyday is a big challange on your own)

gus66

im farming since i was teenager,nw forty..its more than a business,its way of life..nd one thats dying out.money is what everything seens to be about nw..country life is changes,,we are selling sites,collecting subsitys firstly.hope it improves and we can get back to farming,

jmayo

The one thing that has me stumped over the last few years is the price of farm land.
For instance farm land in Meath/Wicklow/Kildare is fetching €30,000 an acre.
How the hell can a farmer make land costing that much pay ?
I know land is cheaper elsewhere further from Dublin but it still is way too expensive when you look what returns can be made from it.

johngalway

twixie wrote: »

i'm wondering more and more about the future of an irish farming culture. Where will we end up in 10 to 15 years time? Its a life, not a career, and 1 which may not be an option for the next generation. Opinions?

The current direction this country is taking is one of the biggest mistakes it's ever made. Farming, fishing, turf cutting etc. are all being squeezed out, a lot of what makes Ireland Ireland. Old traditions and reasons for communities to exist throughout the country.

The future doesn't look good but never give up the old traditions. I don't care what some penpusher in Dublin or Brussels says, I'll stick with it until the day I get planted myself.

These are ways of life. Our ways of life.

BENDYBINN

well spoken galwayjohn

Kama

I agree that it may not be an option for the next generation, but in the opposite direction; my 2c is that we will have to farm.


Our current system of industrial farming is highly dependent on petrochemical inputs, in production and transport terms, and vulnerable to shifts in global energy supply.
Assume oil prices continue in the direction they are moving now.

Oil-price inflation will cascade through the industry, increasing costs at all points, with greater increases the greater the petrochemical-energy input is at any given point.

Increased transport costs will select against long supply chains, and for shorter food miles. One truckdriver strike would put Irish food security 'back on the menu'.

Farming for a global export market will become less competitive and efficient, while farming for local consumption will become comparatively more competitive.

Small farming practices which are more labour intensive will progressively become more competitive versus larger industrial practices which replaced labour with fossil fuel inputs.

These are definite economic factors that are in favour of small farming in the medium-term future. Equally, the economies of scale of business partnerships and co-operatives could mitigate the effects of the energy crisis. It depends a lot on how far energy prices move how feasible any of these options are; a hard 'Peak Oil' position would mean we'd be 'back to the land' whether we liked it or not.

There will always be a future in farming. Its taken a hammering because the economic returns have been so low that farmers have been 'priced out' of farming, but this has been in a context of dirt-cheap imports, inflated land prices from the housing bubble, and a society which considers farming as a past to be forgotten.

It's 'just a business' to some people, but to others its a way of life.
Our way of life. When the financial markets go to sh1te, inflation eats your money, and there's no food in Tescos, you'd wish you had a small farm and some turf to cut