* . * . . .
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Love Europe
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Travel
No Result
View All Result
Love Europe
No Result
View All Result
Home Czech Republic

Czech Republic | Fifty Years To Pay For A Farm

November 26, 2024
in Czech Republic
Czech Republic | Fifty Years To Pay For A Farm
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

Terezie (right) participating in the European gathering in Plessé, France © Adèle Violette

It takes 50 years to pay for a farm. Irrespective of the size of the farm or the country you live in.

Thirty years of farming, but also meeting colleagues from different countries in Europe, has brought me to this realisation. I had one of these meetings in France. The gathering in Plessé, with French farmers and with colleagues from 12 other European countries, helped me to sort out my thoughts and to see that it is possible to generalise problems but also to solve them.

I remember the exact moment when the opening sentence came to me. A colleague from Ireland asked how French farmers saw the future. One of the members of the local farmers’ cooperative replied: All other problems can be solved. The biggest problem is that 50% of our members are retired and have no heirs. Access to land, for young farmers who are starting out, is another issue that came up from every possible angle during the gathering. I have known both of these problems for a long time in the Czech Republic.

Terezie’s daughter, the next generation of farmer © Courtesy of Terezie Daňková

In Europe we have a lot of farmers without an heir. A farm is a paradise, but it is also a prison. In other professions today it is not true: born to an actor, born to an actor, born to a doctor. Children have freedom of choice and rightly so. On the other hand, we have people here who would like to become farmers. But farming is a business that has very low returns, by definition. So the upfront investment is terribly expensive relative to the returns. If you buy a car, for example, you have to pay it off a car within a few years, before it becomes a pile of scrap. You have to pay off a house in twenty-five years and then fix it up and so on. Land, if treated well, doesn’t lose its value. So you don’t mind how long it takes to pay it off. The crucial thing is that the payoff of the investment is enough to live on.

I was struck by how similar these figures are across Europe: around 50% of farms have no heirs. Buying a whole farm – buildings, livestock, machinery and land – costs such a sum that you have to spread it over 50 years, or the annual repayments will eat you up.

Terezie and colleague in the farm shop © Courtesy of Terezie Daňková

Farmers cannot be asked to sell their farms below market value. Nor their heirs. To say to yourself, I’m going to sell this place to these nice people, they’re going to farm it, and I’m going to do a good deed. The market price of farms goes up for many reasons: It is a secure investment. The value of the land does not go down if well managed. The potential of using the land for carbon storage only increases the price of farms for non-farmers. So there is a huge amount of non-farm money operating in the market that farms can simply buy up to stock. And these funds cannot compete with loans with 20-year maturities, because the annual repayments cost more than the farms’ agricultural yield.

The conclusion is frighteningly simple: either we create financial instruments to buy farms that are accessible to young people who choose to farm, or global capital buys the farms that are freed up on the market. Good luck, Europe, I am stepping away from the computer to my animals again for a while. I sincerely hope that we can find a way to enable the next generation to farm.

The critical role of generational renewal in advancing Europe’s agroecological transition, and the need for fair and sustainable land access for young farmers and newcomers in the sector, will be the topic of the workshop ‘Intergenerational dialogue in farmers’ lives’ that will be held during this year’s gathering. Weaving Common Ground, a European gathering of sustainable rural initiatives, will take place in Grzybów, Poland from 28 November to 1 December 2024.

More

Weaving Common Ground – European Triangle for Rural Action

Cultivating The Future Together – ARC’s Rural Resilience Gathering in France

Sustainable Food Systems | Feeding Ourselves Across Europe

Rural Resilience | A Collective Adventure

Feeding Ourselves 2023 – Building Bridges for Rural Resilience

Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=67454c9174284d6991c53b64ddfa4fa0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arc2020.eu%2Fczech-republic-fifty-years-to-pay-for-a-farm%2F&c=8657404892898817572&mkt=de-de

Author :

Publish date : 2024-11-25 10:21:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Tags: Czech RepublicEurope
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

President Lai meets delegation from Estonian parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee – Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

Next Post

Musk Champions Cypriot YouTuber-Turned-MEP Fidias for Top EU Role – Greek Reporter

Related Posts

Czech Republic

Italy, Czech Republic meet with a semifinal berth on the road – WTA Tennis – EUROP INFO

Czech Republic

Italy, Czech Republic, France, drive up Russian LNG imports 18 p.c – EUobserver – EUROP INFO

Czech Republic

Houston Dynamo FC signal Czech Republic Nationwide Workforce attacker Ondřej Lingr – Houston Dynamo FC – EUROP INFO

ADVERTISEMENT

Highlights

Identities Revealed of 4 US Soldiers Who Perished in Lithuania Swamp After Vehicle Sinking – EUROP INFO

Malta Girls Celebrate Triumphant Return to League B in Nations League Promotion – EUROP INFO

Moldova Secures €30 Million Deal with France to Boost Energy Efficiency – EUROP INFO

Could Vučić’s Moscow Visit Trigger Major Repercussions? – EUROP INFO

Russia Slams Serbia for Betraying Trust with Arms Shipments to Ukraine – EUROP INFO

Categories

Archives

November 2024
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 
« Oct   Dec »
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Opinion

© 2024 Love-Europe

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version