PROPOSAL 18

Support for young farmers and new entrants into agriculture   

Any industry which fails to address falling recruitment or renewal rates is firmly on course to encounter problems at some point in its future. With relation to farming these problems will inevitably mean an increased risk to our food security caused by a loss of productive ability and from a loss of independent family run farming enterprises and their potential replacement by statist interests. UK Data shows that we have an ageing farm population and low levels of new entrants in all sectors and DEFRA state that the average age of farmers is now 59 and rising. However, there are two trends within wider data, one is that while farming in developed countries is in general experiencing an ageing workforce, financial and other incentives aimed at the encouragement of new entrants is working well to mitigate food security risk and prevent the wealth transfer of farming into corporate hands. Take for example the UK which offers very little help with the access to land and set up cost barriers that face young farmers, we have an average farmer age of 59 and a ratio of farmers under 35 compared to those over 65 of 0.08 whereas Poland which offers low interest start up loans and other beneficial incentives has a similar average age of 55 but with a ratio of young to old of 1.27, almost 16 times higher.

Low interest loan schemes are a common theme in many countries, often offering interest rates well below 50% of the open market offerings, take for example the agri-starter loan scheme in Australia which offers loans of up to £1.1million at 3.04%, less than half of the commercial market rate, or similar schemes in Canada offering up to $2,000,000 at preferential rates and no fees. Early years grant schemes also provide critical nurture for fledgling agricultural enterprises which by their very nature take several years to establish and realise cost efficiencies and stable profits. Japan for example offers up to £9,000 a year for the first five years to new young farmers and an additional £7,225 per year towards costs of their two year training.

Local Authorities can also offer support for farmers and growers by preventing any further selling off of county farms which are presently heavily oversubscribed and by actively purchasing more of such assets and by acquiring smaller unused/abandoned parcels of land to offer under tenancies for small holders or other micro agricultural enterprises.

Furthermore, new entrants can be encouraged through the funding of recruitment drives within schools and colleges and through support for community groups such as young farmers clubs which at present rely on the commendable although financially limited support from charity offerings such as the Foyle Foundation Small Grants Scheme.

So, it is clear that much could be done to address the renewal issue growing within the industry and that the solutions to it are simple, effective and easy to implement. Our other reform proposals if undertaken will of course improve the wider picture over time as there will be an increased incentive to work within a thriving industry that is valued and treated accordingly by its government and local authority policy. However, targeted and specific policy is needed immediately to ensure sufficient recruitment takes place now and that new entrants have enough lead time to train and establish viable businesses ahead of a retirement labour gap. With ample funding for such schemes available from even the slightest reallocation of money away from existing net zero, foreign war or foreign aid budgets, the only thing holding back such beneficial protectionist policy reform is the political will. We therefore propose:

i) A low interest loan scheme be made available for all new entrants into agriculture under the age of 35 operating on land holdings above 5 hectares in size. All such holdings to be eligible for a single grant to the maximum value of £150,000 to be repaid over a maximum 15-year term at 0.25% interest with an option to repay interest only in any part of the first 5 year period.

ii) A low interest loan scheme be made available for all new entrants into agriculture under the age of 35 operating on land holdings less than 5 hectares but greater than 1 hectare in size. All such holdings to be eligible for a single grant to the maximum value of £50,000 to be repaid over a maximum 15-year term at 0.25% interest with an option to repay interest only in any part of the first 5 year period.

iii) Local authorities be legally obliged to immediately halt the sale of any county farms or other such land assets suitable for farming or horticultural enterprises and to protect them from future sale by amending current land use planning classifications to include them as ‘Local Food Security Land Assets’.

iv) Local Authorities to conduct a consultation with other relevant industry bodies such as The Landworkers’ Alliance and The Soil Association to determine how much agricultural or small parcel peri-urban land is required to deliver ‘significantly improved local food system resilience’ in any parish within their jurisdiction through their provision of Local Food Security Land Assets.

v) Place a legal responsibility upon government to address recruitment into agriculture via the improvement of funding to all local authorities for the provision of marketing campaigns, careers advice and training schemes related to agriculture and for the financial support of industry related community groups such as The National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs and for county agricultural shows or similar showcasing events.