New research from Ifac shows the number of farmers who think they will still be farming in five years' time has significantly dropped. Ifac is a team of accountants and financial advisers serving the farming sector across Ireland and has offices in both Cavan and Monaghan. The team at Ifac carry out 25,000 tax returns for clients every year. 20,000 of those are farmers and the rest are people who work in the agri-food sector. According to a survey completed by Ifac members, only 65% of farmers anticipate still being in the industry in five years' time compared to 81% two years ago.
Each year, Ifac surveys its clients to find out what is top of farmers' minds and evaluate the issues facing them. This year's report is due out tomorrow. Earlier Head of Farm Support at Ifac, Philip O'Connor, told Northern Sound succession, input prices, the weather, climate targets and cashflow are the main concerns as we go through 2024. Mr O'Connor said the statistic for how many farmers saw themselves still farming in five years' time, stood out.
"One of the key results coming out is we asked farmers about will they be farming in five years' time," Philip O'Connor told Northern Sound, "There's been a drop. Like literally, in 201 nearly 82 per cent of farmers said they'd be farming in five years' time but that's dropped to 65 per cent this year - so a drop of 17% over four years."
