The future

B

Baling twine

Guest
No Matter where you go today you always here “there’s no future in farming” whether it be beef,dairy or tillage and every man and his son seems to have a prediction and a solution. One thing for certain is the beef industry is going to take a hit due to a new demand for “vegan” and environmentally friendly foods you won’t feed to a dog. I want to here your opinion on what you think is in store for the future and what family farms will be useful for if anything. I know that this post is very pessimistic but I just want to here the opinions of different people around the country
 
Baling twine said:
No Matter where you go today you always here “there’s no future in farming” whether it be beef,dairy or tillage and every man and his son seems to have a prediction and a solution. One thing for certain is the beef industry is going to take a hit due to a new demand for “vegan” and environmentally friendly foods you won’t feed to a dog. I want to here your opinion on what you think is in store for the future and what family farms will be useful for if anything. I know that this post is very pessimistic but I just want to here the opinions of different people around the country
Click to expand...

Life will go on, challenges will arise, people will adapt.

I can’t imagine there was ever a time where farming (or any business for that matter) was easy in the long term.

People will make predictions and we will get surprise challenges that nobody sees coming.

Try and see the enjoyment in what you do and get on with it.

In this era of social media, we can all see what others have - be it the new car or the perfect life. Truth is, what we see is rarely the true picture.
 
Baling twine said:
No Matter where you go today you always here “there’s no future in farming” whether it be beef,dairy or tillage and every man and his son seems to have a prediction and a solution. One thing for certain is the beef industry is going to take a hit due to a new demand for “vegan” and environmentally friendly foods you won’t feed to a dog. I want to here your opinion on what you think is in store for the future and what family farms will be useful for if anything. I know that this post is very pessimistic but I just want to here the opinions of different people around the country
Click to expand...
You only hear the noisy ones complaining
I'm locally selling beef and seems to be a good local demand for quality products
 
Baling twine said:
No Matter where you go today you always here “there’s no future in farming” whether it be beef,dairy or tillage and every man and his son seems to have a prediction and a solution. One thing for certain is the beef industry is going to take a hit due to a new demand for “vegan” and environmentally friendly foods you won’t feed to a dog. I want to here your opinion on what you think is in store for the future and what family farms will be useful for if anything. I know that this post is very pessimistic but I just want to here the opinions of different people around the country
Click to expand...
veganism is only a niche thing atm. yes there is a rise for vegan foods but not for long imo. wont take long for vegans to realize there wont be enough land to grow crops and build houses and cities on at the same time. and apparently with the threat of the worlds soil losing its fertility in next 100 years, how can we feed the vegans without going into food shortages. unless we go down the soylent green route, things might go back to somewhat normal
 
c4l said:
veganism is only a niche thing atm. yes there is a rise for vegan foods but not for long imo. wont take long for vegans to realize there wont be enough land to grow crops and build houses and cities on at the same time. and apparently with the threat of the worlds soil losing its fertility in next 100 years, how can we feed the vegans without going into food shortages. unless we go down the soylent green route, things might go back to somewhat normal
Click to expand...
Oh you would certainly hope so but, but have you ever talked to a vegan, my god are they stubborn some are just plain delusional and ignorant,I really do hope it’s a fad but it’s growing fairly lively
 
The Last 15 years have seen a lot of sfp money aswell as reps etc coming on to Irish farms.
As well as being cut for modulation etc and take in to account that since reps finished the environmental schemes are poor paying there has been a serious reduction in payments on many farms especially full time ones.
Add inflation to this and we dont have the spending power we had at all.
Machines etc are probably 50% at least dearer than 15 years ago.
Beef cattle haven't paid in 30 years but subsidies masked it.
Now the subsidies arent able to do that.
I'd like to be more positive but I just cant see it
 
The Last 15 years have seen a lot of sfp money aswell as reps etc coming on to Irish farms.
As well as being cut for modulation etc and take in to account that since reps finished the environmental schemes are poor paying there has been a serious reduction in payments on many farms especially full time ones.
Add inflation to this and we dont have the spending power we had at all.
Machines etc are probably 50% at least dearer than 15 years ago.
Beef cattle haven't paid in 30 years but subsidies masked it.
Now the subsidies arent able to do that.
I'd like to be more positive but I just cant see it
 
Farming is changing and that's for sure. I know 3 lads milking between 100 to 150 cows have gone out of cows in the last year....one is rearing calves now and plans to finish 100 cattle a year the other is contract rearing heifers but is selling out in 2 years and the 3rd has it leased....
were in transition over the next number of years but I think there is enough interest in some younger lads to keep things moving.
They will have to adapt tho and it's going to be a business running operation managing staff etc.
Infrastructure is going to be needed more than ever, whether we are trying to get staff or encourage young people into this game the days of spending 3 hrs morning and evening at cows will have to change or complicate labour intensive ways of rearing calves, silage cutting etc.
Younger generation of people want and require a more balanced life
 
Carrigogunnell said:
Farming is changing and that's for sure. I know 3 lads milking between 100 to 150 cows have gone out of cows in the last year....one is rearing calves now and plans to finish 100 cattle a year the other is contract rearing heifers but is selling out in 2 years and the 3rd has it leased....
were in transition over the next number of years but I think there is enough interest in some younger lads to keep things moving.
They will have to adapt tho and it's going to be a business running operation managing staff etc.
Infrastructure is going to be needed more than ever, whether we are trying to get staff or encourage young people into this game the days of spending 3 hrs morning and evening at cows will have to change or complicate labour intensive ways of rearing calves, silage cutting etc.
Younger generation of people want and require a more balanced life
Click to expand...

Bang on. You can’t expect a farmers son or daughter to walk out into a yard of sh1t and spend the day slaving when their friends are home warming their toes by the farm at 6pm and wondering what they’ll do at the weekend.
 
Don't worry about the vegans.
Doctors will be telling people to go back to meat before long.
However, I do see less meat being eaten.
 
I don't know what the future will bring for farmers but change is certain.

I think if you look at the poultry and pig industry. Where you have way less but much bigger units, Id say dairying will go the same way.

Nothing ever stays the same and people will always need food.
 
CORK said:
Bang on. You can’t expect a farmers son or daughter to walk out into a yard of sh1t and spend the day slaving when their friends are home warming their toes by the farm at 6pm and wondering what they’ll do at the weekend.
Click to expand...
It's what my family have done for 300 years that we know of,why should it change?
 
In my limited view farming was a respectable job up until the eighties. The rest of the country were ticking along humble enough and by comparison farmers were at least as well off or slightly better.
Of course "good jobs" ie professions like teachers, doctors lawyers were well ahead but were the exception rather than the rule.
When the economy started improving in the early to mid nineties most people saw an improvement which gained momentum up into the noughties.
Farmers stayed the same and were bypassed. Subsidies made up the difference but now they are devalued
Paying a farm large amounts to stay farming as before will not be politically acceptable going forward
Public goods of some sort will ge demanded in return.
 
As others have said, there will be changes, and I believe if we look to our neighbours the far side of the Irish Sea, we can look into the future.

When the industrial revolution came to Britain, people left to work in cities. We never really had an industrial revolution here, but the only comparative we have is when the celtic tiger came. People got better jobs and there was a bit of upward social mobility. Farming didn't really have that unfortunately.

The average farm size in Ireland is 43 hectares. In the UK I believe its 60. In short, I see less people farming in the future and farms getting bigger. The big farms in the UK are bigger than the big farms here. The small farms would also appear to be bigger. Any of the farms I worked on in the UK were in the thousands of acres.

The economy of scale will allow farmers a better lifestyle I believe. Margins will be tighter, it'll be volume which facilitates this.

I may be off the mark here so welcome any comments to suggest otherwise.
 
It will be a slow migration to larger farms, one difference between here and the uk is the size of the country, there's a lot of this country within travelling distance to a city where off farm jobs will keep people part time farming, not so sure future generations will keep doing this though as they see the lifestyle that some have with good professional jobs.
 
Kieran97 said:
As others have said, there will be changes, and I believe if we look to our neighbours the far side of the Irish Sea, we can look into the future.

When the industrial revolution came to Britain, people left to work in cities. We never really had an industrial revolution here, but the only comparative we have is when the celtic tiger came. People got better jobs and there was a bit of upward social mobility. Farming didn't really have that unfortunately.

The average farm size in Ireland is 43 hectares. In the UK I believe its 60. In short, I see less people farming in the future and farms getting bigger. The big farms in the UK are bigger than the big farms here. The small farms would also appear to be bigger. Any of the farms I worked on in the UK were in the thousands of acres.

The economy of scale will allow farmers a better lifestyle I believe. Margins will be tighter, it'll be volume which facilitates this.

I may be off the mark here so welcome any comments to suggest otherwise.
Click to expand...

I agree with what you have said. I see and hear many people shouting about how prices and low returns are shutting down farms. However, the biggest cause of farm shut down in Ireland is age. Over 40% of Ireland's farmers age aged over 65 years of age. Over the next 10 years, Nature is going to do a lot of herd reduction that man people fear. It will also take care of of the forestry targets - wityh favourable grants in place, people will choose to plant inherited land. It may free up some more land for lease or purchase.
 
ts115 said:
It will be a slow migration to larger farms, one difference between here and the uk is the size of the country, there's a lot of this country within travelling distance to a city where off farm jobs will keep people part time farming, not so sure future generations will keep doing this though as they see the lifestyle that some have with good professional jobs.
Click to expand...

@Sheebadog would know more than me but I think in France there are a lot of absentee land owners who never see their land except for an annual rental payment into their bank account. The land parcels involved wouldn’t always be big.

Farms have always been getting bigger and farmers fewer and that will continue.

Technology is a big factor which will allow one person to farm extra acres or more stock numbers.
 
muckymanor said:
I agree with what you have said. I see and hear many people shouting about how prices and low returns are shutting down farms. However, the biggest cause of farm shut down in Ireland is age. Over 40% of Ireland's farmers age aged over 65 years of age. Over the next 10 years, Nature is going to do a lot of herd reduction that man people fear. It will also take care of of the forestry targets - wityh favourable grants in place, people will choose to plant inherited land. It may free up some more land for lease or purchase.
Click to expand...

There are mixed opinions on forestry, which I understand naturally.

However, could the silver living in forestry be that it may serve to reduce what is an oversupply of beef in this country?
 
Kieran97 said:
There are mixed opinions on forestry, which I understand naturally.

However, could the silver living in forestry be that it may serve to reduce what is an oversupply of beef in this country?
Click to expand...
or stop larry bringing in beef from goodness knows where
 
Kieran97 said:
However, could the silver living in forestry be that it may serve to reduce what is an oversupply of beef in this country?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Done right, forestry could really tighten up beef supply. The last 30 years has seen it not being done right. Wrong types of trees planted in the wrong places. Grants that encourage investors to buy up any land that becomes available giving little chance to local farmers that may want to buy land to expand. A lack of farmers planting parts of their own land, maintaining the trees themselves and using the grants to supplement income. Forestry policy in this country was drawn up by TD's who were influenced by big business. Forestry is now an investment business of investment companies and non farmers. It has been taken out of the hands of farmers because they were priced out of it and there is no way to revert forested land back into agricultural land and that should not have been allowed to happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top