Macra has said it supports the current farmer protests across the European Union (EU), in particular the protest by the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) in Brussels.

Macra president Elaine Houlihan said farmer frustrations across the EU “have been well flagged, yet these frustrations are being ignored”.

She added that EU farming is facing an aging farmer crisis.

“Food production is in crisis. With 6.5% of farmers in the EU below the age of 35, there is little hope for the future of an industry that will age into obsolescence,” she said.

Houlihan added that Macra has been told the situation in Ireland is no worse than other EU countries.

“Using the fact that we are as bad as our EU neighbours when it comes to succession is a cop out - if there is a real appetite for change, then action as opposed to intransigence is required,” she said.

Proposed succession scheme

Referencing Macra’s pre-budget submission, Houlihan said the young farmer organisation put forward a pilot scheme that would facilitate the transfer of land from older farmers to younger farmers.

“If this Government is serious about the environmental impact of farming, then real action is required.

"Real action is facilitating transferring the control of land to the next generation, who are both willing and able to make the seismic changes that are required.

“Continued inaction and a reliance on the measures in CAP to effect the changes that are needed is tantamount to the Government burying its head in the sand,” she said.