James Davison, hill farmer in Glenarm, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
From Government policy, education and the attractiveness of the job, those who wish to enter the farming industry are presented with their fair share of obstacles.
For 31-year-old hill farmer James Davison, 31, who farms in Glenarm in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, his life has always revolved around farming having grown up on his family farm. However, his career path was not as simple as you may think.
"I was always sort of strongly discouraged away from it, because it would not be viable, you could not make enough money out of it or it would not be the lifestyle anybody would choose," he says.
"But for some reason, I always wanted to farm, and I did not really take that advice on board."
Now, James' farm consists of two broiler houses 2 which hold 35000 each and 300 breeding ewes. He also rears about 3,000 calves a year for ABP alongside his wife and family.
But he is passionate about trying to encourage people into farming, and one of the biggest barriers to getting fresh talent into the sector, he says, is how attractive the job looks.
"My day-to-day lifestyle and how I work will be very hard to sell to someone," he adds.
Long hours, poor pay and a tough climate to work within are all stereotypical aspects of the job which may be discouraging people from thinking about it as a career choice.
And although this may be case sometimes, the challenges of the job are actually the parts that excite James.
He says: "It is a very challenging industry to work in and build something sustainable in, but I actually really enjoy the challenge.
"From a business point of view, I think there is something very enjoyable about it."
But to change the narrative James says farming could become more structured including rotas and regular time off. It should also have better facilities so that working conditions can remain high.
Planning barriers provide a particular challenge for farmers looking to expand and better their facilities. This has been made difficult due to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) moving away from the Ammonia Standing Advice in 2023. NIEA now provide planning authorities with case- and site-specific advice, on a case-by-case basis.
These policies do not provide young people with the opportunities to invest which otherwise could have been a reason to get into farming.
"We have to have the opportunity for young people to invest in a poultry unit or a dairy unit or a beef unit or a cow unit. Whatever the case may be, they have to be able to have that option."
More recently the DAERA has been criticised for policy planning failure which has left young farmers with no dedicated support this year.
With the Farming for the Generations pilot scheme running until March 2026, and the Young Farmers Payment (YFP) and Regional Reserve ending after the 2025 scheme year, the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) says there will be no meaningful support in place for young farmers this year while a new full Farming for the Generations scheme is not expected to be operational until 2027.
"There has to be incentives coming from the Department of Agriculture to try and encourage people. There are big costs with young people getting into farming - we need to support them to get in there and get going."
These moves from the Government do not paint the agricultural industry in a good light, but with more support the industry can be made more attractive as it will provide a sense of security.
READ MORE: Northern Ireland's young farmers left with no support in 2026, says UFU
Another barrier is education. Although many schools in Northern Ireland teach farming, across the UK it has been an issue many have lobbied for.
While more needs to be done to teach kids about why agriculture is important, closing that knowledge gap on what jobs can be done within the industry is equally as important and may be able to open the doors for many more young people to enter the industry.
James highlights the benefits of a share farm arrangement, which he had the opportunity to get involved and expand his family farm. He says these kinds of options should be promoted more to young people to give them the chance to acquire land.
There are also benefits in tying young and old famers together through arrangements like this.
"The young farmer can provide the labour, the work and the new ideas, and come in and run the farm. The older farmer [can manage] the land and the stock.
"Just put the two of them together so that older farmers can take things a lot easier but still maintain that income, while the younger farmers get the chance to run a farm."
James has also had the opportunity to expand through ABP which allows him to rear around 3,000 calves a year.
"I would like to emphasise how supportive they have been as a first-generation farmer, and how important the contract type arrangements are for people like myself who would struggle to get the capital to buy the stock and give a guaranteed income."
Alongside his farming work, he is part of the UFU Next Generation Group and the Hill Farming Committee. Unions like these provide farmers with a community, a space to share concerns and worries and a place to meet up and get off farm.
Farming has its challenges, but it also has a huge community who understand and work together to combat these.
But it is about how you perceive the industry and the opportunities in it.
He says: "I think we need to look at it as a as a really exciting career."
