Young farmers in the UK are facing 'serious and unnecessary challenges' which is impacting the entire industry, a NatWest report has said.
The report, 'Harvesting the future for young farmers', claims young farmers are faced with limited succession opportunities, an inability to embrace new farming models, difficulty accessing funding and a varying level of business skills.
Bigger farms are often unaffordable when they come on the market and are being bought up by neighbours.
According to the report, almost 20,000 new diversification projects could be delivered by young farmers, generating £11,900 in additional income per farm.
The bank’s head of agriculture, Ian Burrow, said: "Millennial farmers are a high tech, high skilled, highly motivated group who hold a realistic picture of farming in their heads and want a career on the land.
"They are however, seriously constrained in a number of ways.
"With Brexit further heightening these challenges and increasing uncertainty, it is important we act now.
"Unless additional investment is secured, it is unlikely that the economic potential these young people hold will be unlocked.
"Banks, government, families, and communities need to come together to ensure today’s young farmers receive the support they deserve."
Getting Better
Duncan Morrison, vice-chairman of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers, told the BBC: "The more young people you've got in an industry, it's always a positive, because you've got young people bringing in new ideas and fresh enthusiasm.
"The average age of a farmer is 58 now, I think, and it's not really good. You need younger people coming in and taking the pressure off the older guys."
The report recommended the launch of a UK-wide farming succession summit, the creation of a Westminster committee to draw up strategy to enable the farming community to make the most of Brexit and an annual farm technology conference.
Mr Burrow said: "It's getting better, yes. We're actually undertaking lots of business planning workshops and we're identifying, through the network of agricultural specialists we've got, a willingness to learn and understand.
"The quality of business reports and business cases we're seeing is improving on a week-by-week basis."
Finance
Availability of finance was highlighted as one of the most important issues in the next five years of having a farm business career.
An online consultation by the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) found the results in a survey titled 'Considerations for a Future British Agricultural Policy'.
Responses included: 39% of respondents stated availability of finance for farm investments; 29% stated availability of farm land or farm buildings; 21% stated availability of working capital and 10% stated the availability of 'other resources'.
NFYFC’s Agricultural and Rural Issues Chairman Sam Dilcock said getting started in farming has "many challenges."
"We need to look at short and long-term finance too, which are especially big barriers to new entrants."
