Farmer Age Profile

kevthegaff

I was in templemore mart the other day, and it was striking the age profile(most of the guys were in their 70s 80s. Also I'm seeing last few weeks more dairy farms for sale due to retirement or no successor. I think farmland will become cheaper in the not too distant future

Wildsurfer

kevthegaff wrote: »

I was in templemore mart the other day, and it was striking the age profile(most of the guys were in their 70s 80s. Also I'm seeing last few weeks more dairy farms for sale due to retirement or no successor. I think farmland will become cheaper in the not too distant future

Or there might be a renewed interest in working outdoors and avoiding populated areas after Covid. And alot of farmers I know send their ould lads to the mart while they run the farm so maybe dont go by that. Farms are getting bigger too so land coming up will just be swallowed into bigger holdings. Land around here albeit a dairy stronghold is like gold dust, and nearly every farm in the area has a successor. I suppose it depends alot on the area.

whelan2

A few years ago my dad went to sell calves in local mart. He said he felt like a young lad there as everyone else was ancient

charolais0153

kevthegaff wrote: »

I was in templemore mart the other day, and it was striking the age profile(most of the guys were in their 70s 80s. Also I'm seeing last few weeks more dairy farms for sale due to retirement or no successor. I think farmland will become cheaper in the not too distant future

Know a lad that was looking for a small bit of grazing, around 15 acres for pedigree sheep in north galway, cant get any.

mr.stonewall

kevthegaff wrote: »

I was in templemore mart the other day, and it was striking the age profile(most of the guys were in their 70s 80s. Also I'm seeing last few weeks more dairy farms for sale due to retirement or no successor. I think farmland will become cheaper in the not too distant future

I have the same feeling. In a previously strong dairy area. Only six guys milking now and all are close to pension age. Very little guys going farming here, but a lot of places are leased. Can see that market collapsing once the new CAP is sorted and this will drop the land sale market aswell. Very few farming. In the parish only one guy under 40 farming fulltime. Things will change in the land market quicker than people think

tanko

There are eleven farms bordering my farm.
Only two of them have children with any interest in continuing to farm the land.

mycro2013

It is the same down in these parts. The region I'm from there is no farmer under the age of 30 farming fulltime.Majority are in there forties,fifties and older.

We had a similar debate previously between myself and other lads. The general consensus being that the current group of farmers have not made farming seem attractive. Due to following.

1. Slow to hand over the reins to lads/ladies.
2. Constantly talking down the career by saying no money or tis a fool's game.
3. More and farmer's children heading to third level and not returning to the area once graduated.

visatorro

kevthegaff wrote:

I was in templemore mart the other day, and it was striking the age profile(most of the guys were in their 70s 80s. Also I'm seeing last few weeks more dairy farms for sale due to retirement or no successor. I think farmland will become cheaper in the not too distant future

Dunno, the price of land will never drop again imo. There's too
much money floating around. Rental price's were never higher either.

Say my name

Around here it's mostly nephews are the one's looking for the farm.
Either from the farmer having no children or the children being well educated with non farming mothers and seeing a different life and probably being steered to a professional life.

Last few auctions around here land made over 20k up to 25k. That said land next door sold at auction but it took the buyer too long to come up with the deposit never mind the full price that local underbidders bought it for less. But the original bid price made the press.

With Dairy there's a few did their time in New Zealand and are on their 3rd and 4th farms now. The farms are either bought or leased and new conversions. Being run as companies. The wives all have good jobs though. :pac:
In the tillage here it's a few big operators are subsuming more and more land every year from guys retiring from farming. And those guys have wives with good jobs too. :pac:
I'm not sure about successors with those dairy and tillage big operators but that's down the road for them.

I hear from someone in the dairy service industry that their smaller older customers are retiring, giving up. Work and inspections and online compliance not worth it anymore to them. The farms are being rented out.

These last few years there's been some big changes around here. Bigger machinery. Larger farms.
They're all still killing each other here.

TooOldBoots

Average age of farmers has risen again over the last few years. The number older than 65 must be over 50% by now.
I know of two old pensioners in there 70s who can hardly walk trying to run a 120 acre suckler farm. Pure madness greed and hunger!!!

wrangler

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Average age of farmers has risen again over the last few years. The number older than 65 must be over 50% by now.
I know of two old pensioners in there 70s who can hardly walk trying to run a 120 acre suckler farm. Pure madness greed and hunger!!!

That's hardly fair, it's a free country and if they're not strangling someone helping them what harm are they doing.
I see so-called partnerships where the older partner is strangled because of taking advantage of whatever gains is to be made in those situations..
If it was greed, those old guys would make more by leasing.
There's broken marriages too, there's some couples you couldn't let near your assets. I would've loved to have my farm continued on but cest la vie.
We didn't need an income from the farm

lockdownrescue

my partners grandfather would be 105 this year and is still the legal owner of his farm even though he died 24 years ago. 120 acres of land and the whole place is banjaxed.

Gods Gift

The mart is or at least was a social event for most farmers. Neither buying or selling just somewhere to go. A lot of younger farmers now selling online. I’ve never sold cattle in a mart. They’ve been sold on DoneDeal. Lots of farmers dying off around here with no successor or will and it taking years to sort out. Bought 80 acres 2 years ago where the man died in 2010 and the place was gone wild. €4500 an acre though at auction. Was sure it would fall through but it didnt.

jaymla627

Say my name wrote: »

Around here it's mostly nephews are the one's looking for the farm.
Either from the farmer having no children or the children being well educated with non farming mothers and seeing a different life and probably being steered to a professional life.

Last few auctions around here land made over 20k up to 25k. That said land next door sold at auction but it took the buyer too long to come up with the deposit never mind the full price that local underbidders bought it for less. But the original bid price made the press.

With Dairy there's a few did their time in New Zealand and are on their 3rd and 4th farms now. The farms are either bought or leased and new conversions. Being run as companies. The wives all have good jobs though. :pac:
In the tillage here it's a few big operators are subsuming more and more land every year from guys retiring from farming. And those guys have wives with good jobs too. :pac:
I'm not sure about successors with those dairy and tillage big operators but that's down the road for them.

I hear from someone in the dairy service industry that their smaller older customers are retiring, giving up. Work and inspections and online compliance not worth it anymore to them. The farms are being rented out.

These last few years there's been some big changes around here. Bigger machinery. Larger farms.
They're all still killing each other here.

Its a game of poker is all the above boys are playing, local family here have 6 plus different companies set-up to cover their various dairy farms , its a get out of jail card if their is a few bad years, let 3-4 of the "companies " go wallop and soak up all the bad debt and continue trading on the remaining companies....
Merchants and co-ops are very wary of extending any amount of credit to these lads on account of this and signed personal guarantess are needed to honour any debts owed in alot of cases before any business is done

Siamsa Sessions

The IFJ had something a few days ago about age profiles increasing. The figures were from Teagasc but as far as I remember, dairy was the only sector with any few farmers under 40, followed by tillage, and then sheep and beef had the highest age profile.

Probably not too surprising that the most high-profile and profitable sectors have younger people involved.

J.O. Farmer

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

The IFJ had something a few days ago about age profiles increasing. The figures were from Teagasc but as far as I remember, dairy was the only sector with any few farmers under 40, followed by tillage, and then sheep and beef had the highest age profile.

Probably not too surprising that the most high-profile and profitable sectors have younger people involved.

Dairying would also be a young person's game whereas sheep and beef are less work intensive therefore farmers can continue on longer with small numbers. The small beef and sheep lads never really retire.

You won't see many 80 year olds milking cows but go to the local mart and there's a few buying or selling cattle or sheep.

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

The IFJ had something a few days ago about age profiles increasing. The figures were from Teagasc but as far as I remember, dairy was the only sector with any few farmers under 40, followed by tillage, and then sheep and beef had the highest age profile.

Probably not too surprising that the most high-profile and profitable sectors have younger people involved.

I see you considering dairying, two local young farmers have converted and are delighted, handy money and easy managed stock, both are parttime farmers.
even among my own tenants are three parttime milking 200 and bringing most of the progeny to beef, great workers and positive people.

Donegalforever

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Average age of farmers has risen again over the last few years. The number older than 65 must be over 50% by now.
I know of two old pensioners in there 70s who can hardly walk trying to run a 120 acre suckler farm. Pure madness greed and hunger!!!

Greed may not come into it.
Farming is their Life; they probably would not know what to do with themselves if the gave it up.

TooOldBoots

No it's pure hunger, the Woman was caught stealing turf out of a neighbours shed last winter. She tried to make out she was old and confused. The same one would hear a coin drop from over a mile