New entrants future is bleak
New entrants future is bleak
NEW entrants into farming face a bleak future because of falling commodity prices and the governments failure to adopt EU support schemes, according to chartered surveyors Hamiltons.
Chris Turney, a rural chartered surveyor, said his firm had provided practical support for up to 300 new entrants to the industry over the past two years, but had received little backing from landowners or government.
His Glos-based firm had set up a subsidised milk quota leasing scheme for new entrants, free advice on cash flows, and special finance deals.
"We asked for help but could not get a response from the NFU, and not one person from MAFF has come to talk to us. There have been other schemes, such as the rural starters register and talk of handing down money from donations, but they have not got to the core of the issue," he said.
Mr Turney said he feared for the future of small agricultural businesses. "Because of the economies of scale, we are going to see the big get even bigger during the next 20 years."