Land Mobility 2019 Report
The 2019 Report on Land Mobility was recently presented to Minister Creed. The Departments of Agriculture and Finance have strongly supported Land Mobility and The Land Mobility Service since its inception in 2014. Income Tax Reliefs for Long Term Leasing and The Farm Partnership Register are just two examples of this support. Such supports together with the confidential expert service established by Macra na Feirme and FBD Trust has facilitated Land Mobility.
Land Mobility progress has been phenomenal, the Service has moved from a pilot to a nationwide project delivering over 500 arrangements covering in excess of 47,000 acres.
No longer is conacre the defacto option, instead land owners and farmers are collaborating via a range of options including long leases, share farming, partnerships and various contract arrangements. It is all about land uses and finding solutions that work for all parties.
Support from food processors, the farm organisations and farm advisors has been very important for land owner engagement and delivery.
The cohort of Land Owners with whom the Service has had most engagement are those without a farming successor and those with a farming successor but viability issues prevail, often due to scale or enterprise.
The Collaborators tend to be Young Trained Farmers with limited or no land, Farm Managers looking to take the next step, and established Farmers looking to expand.
The focus when facilitating arrangements is to deliver something that is appropriate, fair and sustainable. This involves new thinking, a land use focus and arrangements that work for all parties. Such arrangements are delivering Financial and Social Benefits; income and asset protection is being provided to owners, farms are delivering productivity increases, opportunities are being provided for young farmers, and rural communities are benefitting.
The Land Mobility Service has provided support across all farming sectors.
For more information contact info@landmobility.ie
Our Team are
Austin Finn Programme Manager and Lead Facilitator 086 2541425
Austin is a B Ag and a Chartered Accountant, he has been involved in farming and working with farmers all his life and has a wealth of experience in helping people find solutions and develop opportunities.
Patrick Brady Facilitator in the North East and Midlands 087 1628839
Michael Larkin Facilitator in the West and North West 086 0404002
What is The Land Mobility Service?
The Land Mobility Brokerage Service, based in the Farm Centre, is not about more studies but instead providing a service to facilitate workable arrangements. The fundamentals of the service are:
- To provide information
- To outline and explore options
- To act as an honest broker
- To provide a confidential service facilitating land mobility
- To work with farmers’ existing professional advisers
The “Honest Broker” element is particularly important in that all parties will be fully respected and in particular the rights of the land owner.
The purpose of the service is to facilitate collaborative arrangements tailored to suit any
specific situation. These arrangements may be as simple or as complex as desired. They must be workable for all parties involved and can be within or outside the family or a combination of both. In many cases it is envisaged that the arrangements will evolve over
time, to help develop dynamic, progressive, and profitable farm operations.
Advantages of Collaboration
Collaboration has a long tradition in rural Ireland, just look at co ops and neighbours helping each other at the harvest. Collaboration provides both social and financial benefits. Identified benefits of collaboration include
- Improved economies of scale leading to increased profits
- Increased leisure time
- Better social and family life
- Improved work environment and reduced work load
- Reduced stress through shared decisions and companionship
- Improved farm safety
- Reduced investment risk and better decision making
- More efficient use of fixed costs
- Operational farms have higher economic, social and environmental value
- Improved use of skills and specialisations
- Expansion, succession planning and farm progression facilitated
In spite of the benefits and the availability of both templates and working examples the level of collaborative arrangements operating in Ireland is low. This can be attributed to CAP reform and uncertainty associated with Single Farm Payment (SFP) entitlements, a lack of information and awareness, and land title security concerns.
Structured collaborative arrangements are a relatively new concept in Ireland and have a lot to offer.
