Macra: Generational renewal must become 'key issue' for govt
At last year's Tullamore Show (2024), Macra welcomed the establishment of the commission on generational renewal.
The young farmer's organisation said that the commission "brought hope" that the government was "finally" recognising the importance of the issue, and taking the initial steps towards supporting a future for them.
According to Macra, the promised report from the commission has yet to be delivered.
Ahead of Budget 2026, Macra said that "hopes are fading" that the report will have any meaningful impact.
Since the establishment of the commission, Macra has actively engaged with government to ensure the young person's voice would be heard.
O'Neill said: "In January 2025, we organised a series of well-attended public consultations to gather the views of our members and older farmers. We gave our members an opportunity to have their voices heard and used these views to underpin our submission to the commission.
"Generational Renewal must become a key issue for our government, to ensure a future for our young farmers and for rural Ireland. Our government must now show that this was not just a political promise but a meaningful exercise," the Macra president added.
Earlier this year (2025), Macra met with the commission, and welcomed the opportunity to highlight the key areas of the submission and stress the importance of succession to young farmers.
Since then, Macra has been "anxiously waiting" for the release of the report and is extremely disappointed that it has yet to be delivered.
Separately, last week (August 4) Macra called for "mandatory" farm succession plans for farmers over 63 and "transition payments" for farmers from 67-70 years-of-age.
Responding to a query from Agriland on Macra's stance on support payments to farmers in receipt of a pension, Macra national president Josephine O'Neill outlined the rural youth organisation's position.
She said: "We need to examine this in the context of creating opportunities to facilitate generational renewal and collaborative arrangements between younger and older farmers plus the reality of a reduced Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget."
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