Growing need for better prospects in farming

Date: 13/11/1997

By Leyla Linton

THE European Union is sitting on a demographic time bomb, with more than half of its farmers over the age of 55.

To make matters worse, those working in the agricultural sector say that young people no longer want to take over from the older generation.

John Lee, president of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), says that the low number of new entrants into the farming industry does not result from a lack of interest in the business, but simply from the fact that the conditions are so unfavourable.

"A lot of people want to be farmers but do not have the opportunity," he explains.

Only 8.3% of EU farmers are under 35 years old. (The European Commission defines them as 'young farmers' until the age of 40). It predicts that the number of farmers of all ages will continue to fall by 2-3% a year.

Both Lee's father and grandfather were farmers and he now runs the family farm which produces beef, sheep and cereals in the south west of England.

He pursued an agricultural education before taking over the family business, but acknowledges that it is a path that few young people are willing to follow.

Even those who come from a farming family are turning their backs on the business. "They are not interested because they see no prospects," says Lee.

The CEJA warns that the situation is becoming critical and squarely blames the proposed reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for failing to address the problem of an ageing population of farmers by finding ways to entice younger people to work in the sector. Indeed, it accuses the Commission of advising active farmers to look for jobs outside agriculture.

Under the current reform proposals, the CEJA believes that prices would be lower than costs, making it even more unlikely that new entrants would jump at the chance to begin farming.

"There is a lack of confidence in the sector and that is largely due to the CAP. There is a crisis coming," says Lee.

Another serious problem facing young people considering farming is finding the capital. The cost of buying quotas can be prohibitive. "Often the price of the quota is more than the price of the cow," he points out.

Despite his insistence that agriculture is a business like any other, Lee at the same time argues strenuously in favour of financial support.

"Ultimately it is a business like any other business. If I wanted to set up a car factory I could get an enormous amount of subsidies," he says.

Competitivity is not a concept which appears to be top of his priorities and Lee has to defend the rather unpopular argument of farmers that, contrary to consumers' suspicions, the food they produce is not overpriced.

"We are seeing a situation where we will be selling at less than it costs to produce," he insists.

The CEJA's official position on the Commission's proposal to lower the price of foodstuffs is that it "does not, in general, benefit consumers".

Lee believes that EU citizens would be prepared to pay more for food produced in Europe which was of a better quality and met high environmental standards.

The CEJA insists that it is not possible to produce food using environmentally-friendly methods at international market prices.

Although Lee concedes it would be an "attractive idea" to concentrate farming in the most profitable parts of Europe, this would mean the terminal decline of some rural areas if they were left without support.

In recognition of the fact that some consumers simply do not understand the costs and processes that go into getting food on to their tables, the CEJA is developing an education package aimed at 10-year-olds to make them aware that there is more to food than what they see on the supermarket shelf or on their plates.

Representing more than 1 million young farmers across the EU is far from easy for Lee, especially when conflicts of interest can arise between farmers of different member states.

There is a similar tension in the CEJA's attitude towards enlarging the Union to include the countries of central and eastern Europe.

"We support enlargement but we have a strange feeling that it is we who are going to be paying for it," says Lee.

Interview with John Lee, President of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA).