A career choice that makes no economic sense

A Farmer's View: Farmers living in picturesque areas often wryly remark that you can't eat the scenery. If you could, then Tom McGarry would be well fed.

His farm in Grange, Co Sligo, lies under the shadow of Ben Bulben and looks towards the Atlantic Ocean. Some 20 years ago, this part of north Sligo was a hive of farming activity. Now he is hard pressed to think of a farm where neither spouse works outside the home.

He is farming full time, but says that he doesn't really see himself as a full-time farmer. "In my mind I am part-time as my wife is working. She is the one putting the bread on the table."

Mr McGarry keeps a 40-cow Limousin suckler herd and says the income would never be enough to support the couple. "I am only on the periphery. "You would need at least 100 suckler cows to survive now, and you would want to be producing quality stock. That all costs money and needs a planned approach."

He is worried by the apathy of farmers, particularly since the latest Fischler plans emerged. "People with off-farm work are investing less and less in their farms. They have the income now but the investment is dropping and that's a big worry. They are not putting out fertiliser. They are not investing because they see no long term future."

Concerned by rural decline, he got involved in setting up a cross border partnership four years ago. The MED group (which stands for the Melvin, Erne and Duff rivers that flow through local counties) is trying to make farm families more viable.

"People like me with 40 cows think they are busy. This mindset needs to be changed. Farmers need to be encouraged to use their time more efficiently and consider looking for off-farm income with the extra time," he says.

The MED group is planning computer courses specially aimed at farmers. It is also trying to improve the breeding of cattle and will purchase slurry separators, which would cut down on the volume of slurry being stored in tanks over the long winters in the North West.

The uncertainty generated by the latest CAP reforms is felt everywhere and Tom McGarry worries about farmers' increasing lack of control over their futures.

"The way I see it, rightly or wrongly, is that we are going to get less for our produce and we are going to get less through subsidies and grants. So how are we going to make up the difference?" he asks.

If 20 per cent of the people expand to survive, another 50 per cent will be put out of business. "What will happen to them?"

This will have a knock-on effect on young farmers. "How do we say to young people 'Go and get an agricultural training' when all the regulations are saying you must keep less stock? But if we don't get young people into the business, there is no future for anybody," he says.

Mr McGarry inherited 50 acres when he began farming 20 years ago. He has since doubled that, reclaiming land and investing in buildings. Had he known the direction farming would have taken, he might not have invested as much in the farm and might have considered ways of generating alternative income. But despite the uncertainties, he loves the job and hopes to be still farming in five years' time. He and his wife Christine recently started a B&B but, like many tourism operators, they have noticed fewer visitors this year.

Up to six years ago, Mr McGarry also held an off-farm job. "I'm a full-time farmer by choice now. It's what I want," he says. "That's probably not a good enough reason for doing it. From an economic point of view, it makes no sense. But life is for living."