By Martin Banks
A congress was told the average farmer in Europe is 57 years old, and only 12 percent are under 40 and this is “becoming critical.”
This emerged at the 11th EPP European Congress of Young Farmers on Wednesday under the topic “Young farmers: Toward a prosperous future for farming in Europe #ReFarmEU”.
This year marked an “unprecedented” level of engagement, with a record 540 young farmers at the European Parliament and over 1,000 participants following the event online.
The Congress served as a major platform to showcase innovative and resilient projects submitted by young farmers from across Europe.
“The average farmer is 57 years old, and only 12 percent are under 40. The situation is becoming critical, and we urgently need to support a new generation of farming professionals. It’s simple: without farmers, there is no food,” said MEPs Herbert Dorfmann, Jessika Van Leeuwen, Paulo do Nascimento Cabral and Carmen Crespo Díaz today at the opening.
Launched in 2012 by the EPP Group, Portuguese Farmers Confederation (CAP), Spanish Farmers Association (ASAJA), the event has become a landmark in the agricultural calendar with a clear objective: to listen to young farmers, their experiences, and challenges, as well as their vision for making this profession more attractive, fairer and full of opportunities for future generations.
“Both organisations have young people in their DNA, and that is why we are confident that we will be able to improve the EC’s proposal by ensuring that young people’s money is ring-fenced,” stated CAP and ASAJA.
The Congress also welcomed EU Commissioner Christophe Hansen, who discussed the new “Strategy for Generational Renewal in Agriculture” presented in October directly with young farmers.
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