Concerns and barriers surrounding the farm succession process – perception versus reality for beef farmers in Ireland

Generational renewal is widely acknowledged as key to the survival and sustainability of the European agricultural industry. In Ireland and many other European countries an aging farming population, and the lack of succession planning by farmers, are significant concerns regarding the future of the industry. Farm succession is a complex and multifaceted process with the literature highlighting one of its main barriers as a reluctance of older farmers to retire and effectively step-a-side to pass their farm onto the next generation. Such resistance of older farmers is undoubtedly a huge issue in terms of generational renewal of the Irish agricultural industry, however, it is important to understand that there are many sources of concern for farmers that can act as barriers to developing a succession plan. In this context, the objective of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the concerns and barriers surrounding the farm succession process. Discussions on the topic of farm succession, which took place during semi-structured interviews and consultation meetings with 30 beef farmers in Ireland as part of an intervention programme to support farmers in succession planning, reveal that the source of such concerns appear to stem from two broad areas: successor identification concerns and financial and legal concerns. While acknowledging that such issues cause genuine concern for farmers, we argue that overcoming them may not be as difficult as some farmers may imagine. Hence a distinction between what constitutes real concerns versus what constitutes perceived concerns in the farm succession process emerges. The evidence gathered suggests that where farmers engage the services of professional advisors to discuss farm succession, many of those concerns can be alleviated. Consequently, by reflecting on the findings emerging and by highlighting the case of Irelands Succession Planning Advice Grant as a policy framework solution, we recommend for similar policy development in other countries facing the generational renewal challenge in agriculture. The novel findings emerging from this study provide a valuable contribution to the literature, to practice, and to policy development.