Is this the end of the small farmer

The “payment” is getting smaller and smaller. And inflation is going to flog it.

Keep going and keep costs down and just make sure the taxman gets as little as possible.

Quite possibly, I stand to inherit a reasonably substantial area of land, and the way things are going, in the near future, it will make more sense to plant It with trees.

Scale isn't exactly the path to riches either as margins continue to get eroded and inputs cost get ever higher. The crisis in the pig industry is evidence enough for that. Also if you look at farming in the US where the scale is off the charts compared to here, a large majority of farmers there could not survive without their version of CAP whose budget is actually bigger than the EU's despite having a lot less farmers!!

i think the easiest way for a farmer to diversify is to get an off farm job, its mad how many famrers on average sized places in midlands and west are still farming away full time i dont know how they make it pay tbh

Totally agree, divergence of payments will affect the big fellas a lot too.

Diversify into what exactly? I hear this a lot but nobody gives viable options. Apart from an off farm income which most small farmers already have, I have yet to see any diversification options that 1. don't involve spending lots of money or 2. provide the same income as an off farm job.

Saw a delivery of fertiliser today while out driving and thought “oooh la la “ rich fucker 😂😂

Diversify into giving diversification advice to lads wanting to diversify...how much worse could you be at it than the scale up max production ever decreasing profit margins crew? ....tell them to do a bit of wild honey and some native breeds, set up a petting zoo, start making your own balsamic vinegar out of spuds etc etc....air dried spring lamb jerky and wild garlic aoili with pre prepped nettle soup like those two twin pains in the hole extolling the virtues of veg and saving the planet while filling the super market shelves with plastic packaging for their vegan butternut squash ding dong a long katsu curry doo dah etc etc

It's not as if there would be huge set up costs, red tape, haccp guidelines etc (not that I disagree with those)....just that the route to market here and be compliant seems a lot more "red tapey" than other jurisdictions.

The idea of diversified farming falls in to the same crisis, people not willing to pay for food and it not meeting cost of living in a meaningful way, inputs and inflation breaking those apart.

I've diversified some bit but it's just the same problems but a different take on it.

Selling price goes up a little, inputs and other expenses, living expenses go up by multiples.

Below cost selling could be ended for starters, should have been never allowed.

It's really mad we are facing in to a billion people going hungry next year as black sea grain dries up, nevermind the sharp reduction in yield across Europe.

If there is a drought in North America again then the world food supply will be in big trouble.

No one cares though, food comes from a fridge.

Yea plenty of full time farmers around here as well, in all the various different enterprises. The age profile however is getting older. The youngest, non dairy, full time farmer I can think of would be early 30’s.

The next recession is just around the corner, but of all the sectors around these parts in the west that were devastated for a few years, (hospitality, tradesmen, hauliers, countless other professions) farmers were relatively recession proof. Not completely of course, particularly with the ones with big loans out after listening to teagasc, but the blow was not felt as much in the farming sector at all.

Think you misunderstood my thinking or are trying to twist what I said to make out there was a living to be made out of farms in the last boom.

I think you need very creative accounting to match a aldi or lidl wage for any farming in this boom or the last.

If you lose half of zero is much less than losing half of something.

Or in the worst case if you lose all of zero you are no worse off.

I never understood why more people don't do just this, cut back everything, de-stock, demachine and pull back fertilizer and other inputs. Draw everything back to the absolute minimum allowable so that you can be eligible for the payments and grants. And basically become a grant farmer. Sure, the gross income will reduce somewhat, but so will the expeses and the all the time expenditure. Can sit back then a little and do only what minimal farm works needs doing in order to keep the payment coming, and in the saved time get some off farm job.

I see lads flogging themselves at cows and up working like dogs every waking hour for next to nothing if you were to break it down to an hourly rate.

Being progressive and whoring yourself at every discussion group going isn't much good if you end up in an early grave with the stress of it.

Busy fools.

You’re right, but the reason for that is because there never was a boom in farming so the farmer never had the money (or thought he had it) to invest off farm. Therefore he didn’t lose anything because he never had anything in the first place.

I'd have to disagree re cutting numbers. Unless you're talking about drastic reduction, ie going from 100 animals to 20. There's major savings in fertiliser/ diesel and ration with 10 to 50% cuts in stock. Basically non intensive stocking.

Slurry, silage and fertilizer for silage are main costs on allot of farms

It finding that sweet number for your farm that reduces costs to a min and maximise output

A hidden benefit to Farming is self reliance and being cagey with the pingin.

I haven't a material bone in my body.

I enjoy a humble lifestyle and farming allows me afford it.

I think the point of this thread is that a lot of us were content with a small wage from it, but with input costs up bout 25% a year, payments going down, inflation tearing them apart and the cost of living in general racing ahead that it feels like there are bits of the car flying in every direction.

Like I said I have no interest at all in the material but the place used be a significant contributer now it is harder to see that.