Marion Picot — Trying to plot a future for young farmers in Europe

Marion Picot knows young farmers. Having grown up in northern France, where dairy has a strong tradition, Picot found a path that eventually led her to Brussels. Today, she leads the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), an organisation that describes itself as the voice of Europe's next generation of farmers.

"I just felt like I wanted to work with people who are trying to think a bit more proactively about the future and the future of us all, and trying to find actual solutions on the ground towards challenges," she says.

By definition, young farmers are under 40 with a certain level of education or training. The mix of millennials and Generation Z is now set to accept an even younger generation. "We're starting to see some of the ‘Gen A’ that will be coming to us," says Picot. 

That's encouraging. But young farmers still represent just 12 percent of all farmers in Europe, posing a major demographic problem. With an average age of 57, around half of the nine million farmers in Europe are set to retire within the next ten years. Many of those are also telling their children to find work elsewhere. 

"This is really crazy. It's a very deep, deep issue. The demographics have been plunging since decades already," says Picot. The share of farmers in the 25-44 age group dropped from 23 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2020, according to the European Commission.

Many are also leaving rural areas where farming tends to be more intense. Yet the average age in rural areas is also higher on average.

The challenges are multiple. High land prices and difficulties securing loans are just among the few.

The European Commission in February this year presented its vision for agriculture and food in the hopes of injecting a renewed future into farming. Among them is its goal to create opportunities for young farmers in rural areas. 

"It's like being a bit in a hamster wheel. You're trying to make efforts to be more meaningful towards your environment and your climate, but you don't know how much your impact is, and this is a bit discouraging"

Picot has welcomed the vision, noting it is unacceptable for farmers to sell below their cost of production. 

But she also points out some reality checks in the EU's future long-term budget. Member states have been given too much of a margin of manoeuvre on the budget at a time when they have largely abandoned rural policy, she says.

The volatility of the market is also concerning, especially since the US leadership under Donald Trump is upending global trade with unprecedented tariffs. "This is certainly not going to encourage young people to invest in our sector, because they will see all the risks that they're taking, and the risks are very high on trade," she says.

Another issue is how to reach EU climate goals. The path has been set at the EU level but it's not clear what exactly farmers need to do, she said. "As an individual farmer, I know that European agriculture has to decrease emissions, but what can be my contribution, and in what terms should my contribution be?" 

Picot says farmers often don't know where they should put their efforts when it comes to emission reductions, noting there is no way to measure results.

"It's like being a bit in a hamster wheel. You're trying to make efforts to be more meaningful towards your environment and your climate, but you don't know how much your impact is, and this is a bit discouraging," she says.

Given all these obstacles, one may wonder why any young person would be a farmer. Picot says young people are lured by meaningful change and often have a strong entrepreneurial mindset. 

A new vision of farming has also emerged where a work-life balance leans towards personal development, she says.  "This is a big novelty, because they will really take more time looking at what can be my impact on the community, but also on my own health, my own well-being," says Picot.

Picot describes it as "out of the box" thinking on farming, that spans everything from emission reductions and biodiversity principles. Others tend to experiment with sustainable practices to protect the environment. It's not all doom and gloom. Austria is seen as a success. It also has the youngest farmers. 

The attraction is due, in part, to a very strong consumer attachment to Alpine farming.

This is coupled with other investments that lure capital, including tourism and non-productive ecosystem services. "It is not a model you could reproduce everywhere, because it is very specific to their geographical conditions," warns Picot.

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