Agriland/ICMSA Farmer Survey
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What does the new Agriland survey reveal about farmer exodus in Ireland?
But we're gonna start with a major news survey that was published during the week, which suggests there is going to be a mass exodus of farmers. In a comprehensive survey of Irish farmers, about 2,300 people responded across every sector in every county. One in three say they will leave farming within the next five years. Well, one such farmer is James Cusson, who was born and raised on his family's. Farm in Limerick. When he decided to give up farming with no successor, he had one choice, and that was to find another farmer to take it on. And he found Thomas O'Reilly, who'd been searching for a chance to start a dairy business of his own. Well the two have now agreed a long-term lease, and here's how they both got on.
We're looking at the farm. It's a Grenard Adair County Limerick. Not fearing a hill there in the background. That's the herd of cows down there in the fields that are on the farm.
Why did James Cusson decide to give up his family farm in Limerick?
They're the cows, the ladies making the money. And um I suppose my great great grandfather went to America initially and made the price of the farm. They were here all their lives farming, my dad was here farming, then it was done to me farming. Um And ten years ago maybe at this age, I inherited it completely when my dad passed away.
Was that always the plan or had there been talks about succession before your dad passed?
No. Succession talks now can be thorny at the best of times. I suppose it was obvious but it was never mentioned. I have three other siblings and you know, when you start mentioning a will to someone about something that they've worked hard on all their life, you know, it's hard enough to part with it. There's an obvious Irish grow for land, I suppose. It's hard to walk away from that.
So you inherited the farm but you decided to step away from farming. Farming. Yes. Yes. Why was that? Why was that?
How did succession issues influence James’s decision to leave farming?
Um I stepped away for a couple of reasons. I suppose the farm needed a good bit of investment, upscale the farm and improve infrastructure and all the rest of it. Like you're looking at probably fifteen years, you know, before the investment would actually be finished paying off and like with volatility and all the rest of it, there's no certainty attached to it. And you know, I was nearly fifty and I was kind of saying, you know Do I really want to be doing this now when I'm nearly seventy? As I say it it's just felt like a good time to to skip. I mean, you know, I uh I've had numerous passports with no stamps in them. Simple things like, um, I remember my son said to me one day that like, Daddy, are you ever going to take me to a soccer match?
Kind of put things in perspective a little bit. The business was too important. It came number one. That was it. Holidays would be number ten. Probably.
Your son is thirteen, is he showing any interest in the farmer? Is that something you think about now?
Uh he's probably showing interest in the farm as an asset, but he's probably not showing a lot of interest in the farmer's work. I think my son is more academic, I think.
That that brings us to Thomas who's leasing the farm from you. You're now mostly hands off.
What are the terms of the long‑term lease between James Cusson and Thomas O’Reilly?
Hands off mostly, yes, yeah.
Uh yeah, I grew up on a farm in Cavan. It was nearly too easy to go back there and get left the farm. I wanted a challenge. Spent ten years abroad working on dairy farms in Saudi. uh New Zealand and England and then come back to farming here in Ireland. For me this was the farm for me.
A new national survey commissioned by Agriland found that one in three farmers intend to leave farming within five years. Does that surprise you?
No, no. Costs. Uh people. Um weather. There's so mu so many different things like Yeah, like it's impossible to plan it. Do you know? Like we're you couldn't plan for a dr the worst drought ever we're after having. It's very very hard to plan. Like young people don't want to farm. That's just that's the way it's gone.
Why do farmers like Thomas see challenges such as costs, weather and labour as reasons to quit?
They're other the nine to five jobs, so there's more more overseas staff coming in to do work on dairies. Like any any big dairy dairy operation has overseas staff now. Work life balance, all the all that kind of stuff.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What does the new Agriland survey reveal about farmer exodus in Ireland?
0:00–0:53
2
Why did James Cusson decide to give up his family farm in Limerick?
0:53–1:51
3
How did succession issues influence James’s decision to leave farming?
1:51–2:59
4
What are the terms of the long‑term lease between James Cusson and Thomas O’Reilly?
2:59–3:45
5
Why do farmers like Thomas see challenges such as costs, weather and labour as reasons to quit?
3:45–4:40
6
How does the public’s misunderstanding of modern farming affect farmer morale?
4:40–5:07
7
What solutions or support do the guests suggest for a sustainable future in Irish farming?
5:07–5:19