Why we want older farmers to hang up their wellies

Rob Campbell farmer with sheep — Rob Campbell is desperate to expand his farm but is struggling to get land

The government will pay up to £100,000 to get older farmers to move on.

It’s in response to fears that younger people are missing out on opportunities in agriculture because others aren’t leaving the profession.

Nearly four in 10 UK farmers are over the age of 65, with an average age of 59.

At 19 years old, beef and sheep farmer Rob Campbell is one of the youngest farmers in the country.

Rob and his brother took over their small family farm in Northumberland three years ago.

They’re desperate to expand but are struggling to find land.

“There are farmers in their eighties but they just want to keep going,” he tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

“It’s very hard when you’ve done nothing else all your life. I understand they want to carry on but the sad fact is that it is stopping the younger generation from expanding.”

Farmers in Wales are expected to be able to benefit from a similar scheme to the England plans announced by the environment secretary. Plans in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be different.

Yasmine Keldie, a 24-year-old shepherdess in Aberdeenshire, appreciates that it could be hard for older people to let go of their livelihood.

But she hopes they take up the government’s offer.

“I know that it’s very difficult for the older generation to hang up their wellies and take a step back, even though they know themselves that they are no longer fit enough to do the hard, physical work,” she says.

Abi would love to take on her dad’s farming work

Abi Irwin woman in front of tractor — Abi would love to take on her dad’s farming work

Not all of the older generation is resistant to retirement.

Abi Irwin’s father is a crop farmer in Cornwall and she says he would love to let her take on the running of the business – but at the moment it isn’t financially viable.

“I’ve had to find a job away from our family farm as there isn’t enough work to sustain my parents and myself,” the 23-year old says.

She believes this grant will help her take over the family business and bring in new ideas.

That is something the government wants to encourage.

Environment Secretary George Eustice believes older generations are more resistant to “green” ways of farming.

Abi agrees: “I think there is definitely more of an understanding in the younger generation of more sustainable and ecological methods.”

Nathan says farming is a lifestyle as well as a job

Nathan Parsons Man in front of tractor — Nathan says farming is a lifestyle as well as a job

But there is a lot of sympathy among young farmers for those in the older generation who don’t want to move on.

Nathan Parsons, a 29-year-old farmer from Rutland, thinks it is because it is more than just a job – and “if they wanted to retire they would probably do it off their own back”.

He believes farmers’ mental and physical health can suffer without their work and says he has seen a “massive impact” on those he knows who have retired.

Farming is a job that Nathan loves and says he doesn’t ever want to stop.

“I couldn’t be sat inside drinking tea and biscuits,” he says.