[brendan lyons]

Hello all!

I am young farmer who seeking advice on what to do with the farm. My father is terminally ill
with only a year or two left to live. The farm will be handed down to me and my brother in co-ownership.
Our family farm is 109 acres, roughly a sixth is heather, most of it is grazing land. We own about 60 animals, mostly suckler cows , 1-2 year old heifers, calves and few 2 year old bulls. Im currently looking to farm part time as i am at university. My father is unable to do physical work due to an illness. This means i do all the work under my father's instruction. The farm was not as big as it once was. About a decade ago we had nearly 500 sheep, is it a good idea to invest in sheep considering the land,machinery, buildings etc are all there ready for me to use. I only have about a 1000 pound to use, but is it worth investing or am i crazy?
I have a few options
1) Farm part time with hardy black face sheep
2)Lease the land out
3) Sell the land (not likely though)
4)Maintain the existing herd of cows to receive single farm payment (around £3000)
5)Stop farming completely, but the farms remains.
 I

[SallyintNorth]

Do you like what you are doing at University?

Do you want to farm?

What about your brother?

[shep53]

As SALLY more questions ,  can you cope with the winter feeding of the cattle on a part time basis ??       do you have any experiance of sheep since i assume you were young when your dad had them ??   with sheep most of the big jobs could be done during holidays- yes??

[SteveHants]

If you and your brother want to go to uni etc, I would suggest letting it until you decide what you want to do with your life. You'll need to be around to see whoever leases it keeps it in order, but not as much. You can still claim the sfp then too.

[bloomer]

where are you?


if you have a heart for farming, find away to make it work...

[lachlanandmarcus]

If you and your brother want to go to uni etc, I would suggest letting it until you decide what you want to do with your life. You'll need to be around to see whoever leases it keeps it in order, but not as much. You can still claim the sfp then too.

Is that the case under the new SFP? Would they need to be actively farming it themselves under the new system, or can a tenant do it and them still reserve the SFP to themselves? (genuine question here)?

[cotswoldfarmer]

lachlanandmarcus Still waiting to see what will happen with CAP and what changes they will make to SFP. Should be more news end of the month.

[bizzielizzie66]

I'm really sorry about your dad - that's very sad. You describe yourself as a young farmer - that is obviously how you see yourself. Perhaps part of the decision is already made? 

It's very easy to get sucked into a family business though, especially when there is illness in the family (I'm speaking from experience here). Regardless of whether it is cattle or sheep, you need to think if farming is really is what you want to do.  With a holding of that size, you are only ever going to be a part-time farmer in income terms. What's going to make you the rest of your income? Perhaps you need to decide that first- do university, see what's out there and let the farm for a while. Selling it would be a the very last option.  It's a big decision and one you mustn't rush  - best of luck. 

[Old Shep]

Sorry about your Dad's illness 


My son suddenly inherited my parents small farm ( they had semi retired ) and I help where I can.  You have at least some time to plan whereas it was somewhat unexpected for us.  My advice is that if you have any inclination that you may like to farm gather as much knowledge from your Dad as possible.  Get some sheep if only a few so he can teach you all you may need to know, and keep on with a few cows too.  Its one thing helping with the work as my son did for many years and learnt a lot, but its different when you have to make your own decisions.  TAS has been a great support for us. 

[brendan lyons]

Do you like what you are doing at University?

Do you want to farm?

What about your brother?

I will continue at university and so will my brother. It will likely be farmed part time. Both of us have up to £18k invested in livestock, so i cant imagine the farm will cease to exist. When we are away to unviersity my uncle will feed to cows in return for us giving him most of our land just for winter/spring grazing of his sheep.

[brendan lyons]

If you and your brother want to go to uni etc, I would suggest letting it until you decide what you want to do with your life. You'll need to be around to see whoever leases it keeps it in order, but not as much. You can still claim the sfp then too.

I have literally no idea how much 109 acres would be let for. About 95 acres or so is for grazing, both semi-upland and lowland grass. About 40 acres is superb grassland located near a main road. Can you give a very rough estimate of how much i could lease it for?

[brendan lyons]

where are you?


if you have a heart for farming, find away to make it work...

On the foothills of the sperrin mountains in Northern ireland

[brendan lyons]

As SALLY more questions ,  can you cope with the winter feeding of the cattle on a part time basis ??       do you have any experiance of sheep since i assume you were young when your dad had them ??   with sheep most of the big jobs could be done during holidays- yes??

Winter feeding is not a problem, been doing that since i was 13!
Have experience with sheeps and lambs but i was younger then, done everything apart from lambing.
My father maintained the sheep with no help from us, we were too young 7 or 8. I have been spending the past few summers maintaining fencing, cleaning out our houses, slurry,silage etc.

[SallyintNorth]

From all that you've said so far it sounds as though the farm is very close to your heart, so then how could it be crazy to find a way to make it work for you 

I'm afraid I know nothing about farming in Northern Ireland, not how your subsidies work, not what land prices would be, not how stock sells at the markets, nothing. 

Consequently I wouldn't know how to advise on the likelihood of making money out of sheep or calves or what in your situation, sorry.

The arrangement with your uncle sounds very practical while you finish your studies.

And I belatedly add my sympathy about your Dad.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would re-ask this query on


thefarmingforum and
Britishfarmingforum


Both of these have a number of members who are NI farmers and will def be able to help you with the specifics of land leasing values etc.


Hope this helps