Almost a third of farm families will never become economically viable unless a group is set up in every county to work intensively with them, according to a new study.
This category of farmer is typically middle-aged, with teenage children and no apparent scope for increasing the family income, the Laois LEADER group has warned.
Three years ago, the rural development company set up a farm household viability programme to help these families. Since then, it has worked with more than 300 farm families and has initiated training in areas such as forklift-driving, catering, computers and farm planning.
"These farmers did not know what was out there," said Ms Anne Goodwin, the acting programme manager with Laois LEADER.
"Typically, they might have left school early to work on what was a prosperous farm but had no scope to increase their income and were finding it difficult to educate teenage families. Such farmers don't come to meetings or respond to mailshots. You have to arrive on their doorstep."
LEADER staff talked to farm families, assessed their skills and looked at areas which might yield extra income. Through FAS, accredited training in truck-driving and forklift operation was organised. Woodwork and building skills training were provided while a return-to-work programme was organised through CERT for food service skills.
Meanwhile, the Farm Relief Service encouraged underemployed farmers to boost their income by doing relief work for other farmers. Some households had entrepreneurial ideas in areas such as jam-making, machinery maintenance and organic farm tourism.
They did an enterprise course and many went on to take further training in areas such as hospitality and information technology.
Ms Helen Gee from Abbeyleix is an enthusiastic advocate. She had been supplying jams and preserves to the country markets for years but had never taken the business any further. LEADER recommended that she do a course on food enterprise. This led to the setting up of a production kitchen at home, with a 50 per cent LEADER grant, and the formal marketing of her range of G's Gourmet Jams. She now supplies outlets in Dublin and Cork, as well as the midlands.
Without the programme, she believes she would still be relying on the markets to boost the family's tillage farm income.
The programme encouraged Mr Vincent O'Sullivan from Cullahill to capitalise on the scenic setting of his farm. He is an organic farmer and was interested in getting involved in tourism. He completed the enterprise creation course and eventually co-ordinated the programme.
Vincent prepared a plan for the farm and household, did a tour-guiding course with LEA DER and CERT and gave guided tours around the farm and Cullahill mountain. His wife Brid also did a rural tourism course and the family plans to develop self-catering accommodation.
Such scenarios could be replicated in every county, according to Laois LEADER. "The success of the programme should serve as a blueprint for the mainstream organisations to put in place a national scheme to take account of farm families nationally," said Mr Michael Bergin, the chairman of Laois LEADER.
"It is vital that a programme for farm families allows for a lot of personal contact with the members of families. There is no quick-fix solution to the problems facing farm families in the 21st century."
