What is the Land Mobility Service?
The Land Mobility Service is a dedicated proactive support service for farmers and farm families who are contemplating Expansion, Changing Enterprise, or Stepping Back. The confidential service allows people explore their options and will help match farmers interested in long leases and collaborative arrangements such as partnerships, share farming or contract rearing. The Service also supports family partnerships.
The service has identified exciting opportunities for farmers wishing to expand or young persons with agricultural qualifications wanting to develop their own career in farming. If you are prepared and willing to work with other farmers or land owners collaborative farming opportunities exist.
The Service is helping farmers and farm families who want to step back, reduce their workload, or who do not have an identified farming successor. The Service outlines options without obligation and will develop an arrangement that suits your needs, ensuring income and title security, that the land is farmed, etc.
The Land Mobility Service is an initiative of Macra na Feirme with the financial backing of FBD Trust and supported by numerous Stakeholders including The Dept. of Agriculture and Food Processors like Dairygold, Aurivo, Lakeland Dairies, Glanbia, Kerry Group and North Cork Creamery and more.
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.
Any of the following represent various farms of collaborative farming;
- Long Lease – a land owner makes land available for an extended period, this provides the user with a degree of certainty and sufficient time to make improvements to the land and get a return. The land owner will see the land better farmed than would be the case with con acre and income tax exemptions apply.
- Contract Rearing – a land owner rears animals on behalf of another farmer, this keeps the land owner farming and provides income security. It frees up land for the animal owner.
- Share Farming – both the land owner and share farmer farm the same ground together, they decide between them how the land is to be farmed, who supplies what inputs and labour, and then how the output will be divided.
- Share Milking – this is share farming in a dairy context, two people milk cows from the same land block and facilities.
- Partnerships – two or more people come together to farm as one, the partnership becomes the farmer. All resources are licensed into the partnership and the annual net profit is divided amongst the partners. Partnership is an excellent arrangement within a family.
Read more about Land Mobility Options >>
Background
The Irish Land Mobility Service was established in 2014 by Macra na Feirme with the financial support of FBD Trust. This Macra na Feirme initiative is supported by a wide range of stakeholders. The purpose of the initiative was to provide a subsidised, independent, and expert service that would promote and facilitate Collaborative Farming.
Farming and food represent Ireland’s largest indigenous industry with a very significant economic contribution to the country. Global food demand continues to grow while at the same time the two most basic resources for food production, land and water are in decline. It is critical that we make the best use of available land. It is in this context that new land use models and land mobility come into consideration.
Land mobility has always been an issue, only 6% of farmers are under 35 and 26% are over 65. This age imbalance is compounded by the fact that many older farmers do not have a farming successor. There have been numerous studies identifying the issues, these include:
- Farming successor not identified
- Late transfer carrying from one generation to the next
- Uncertainty over available options and impact for CAP payments
- Desire for the land to be farmed but wanting to stay involved or keep family involvement
- Desire to enhance the farm for future generations but not able to do it themselves
- Security of income and property rights
- Lack of information and advice
Average farm size in Ireland is 32 Hectares, fragmentation is common, and the amount of land changing hands through sale or purchase each year is tiny. Collaborative arrangements can be the key to increasing land availability & creating new opportunities for farmers.
Since its inception (initially as a pilot now nationwide) the service has been involved in excess of 500 arrangements covering more than 50,000 acres.
Meet the Land Mobility Service Team >>
Download the 2023 Land Mobility Booklet >>
The service is registered with the CRO and Revenue as a not-for-profit Designated Activity Company, Macra Land Mobility Services DAC. This company is 100% owned by Macra na Feirme and has its registered and administration office in the Irish Farm Centre Bluebell Dublin 12. The company is controlled by a Board comprising a chairperson, 5 Macra and regulatory nominees, 3 agri industry nominees, and 3 others.
