Teagasc Issues Comprehensive Publication on Farm Partnerships

20 July 2004

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Joe Walsh, has launched a comprehensive publication on the establishment and operation of farm partnerships.
Published by Teagasc, it was produced by an expert group drawn from Teagasc, the Department of Agriculture and Food, accountancy, taxation and legal experts. It was supported by ACC Bank, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), the IFA and Macra na Feirme.
Called Partnerships and Farming, it was described as a landmark publication by Teagasc Director, Jim Flanagan.
“It will be of immense value to farmers contemplating the establishment of partnerships and will be a vital reference source for solicitors, accountants and advisers who are involved in professionally assisting the establishment of partnerships”, said Mr Flanagan.
“In addition to detailed advice on setting up and operating a partnership, the publication also includes ‘specimen’ farm partnership agreements. This means that each potential set of partners will not have to ‘re-invent the wheel’. This ready-made system should greatly reduce the cost of setting-up partnerships”, he added.
Mr Flanagan complimented the Law Society of Ireland for its support for the new publication. The Law Society has recommended its use by solicitors and has said it will obviate the necessity for a substantial part of the difficult negotiations leading to the formation of a partnership. It has also made the specimen agreements available for downloading by solicitors from the Law Society website.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food also launched a Revenue Commissioners’ booklet on the taxation issues involved in setting up, operating and dissolving a farm partnership. A new dairy partnership finance package was also announced by ACC Bank.
Ben Roche of the Dairy Partnership Registration Office at Teagasc, Moorepark said these new initiatives are coming at a time of increasing interest in farm partnerships.
“This increased interest has resulted from changes in the milk quota regulations last year which enable partnership arrangements between a parent and a son or daughter, in addition to partnerships between unrelated dairy farmers. Also the son or daughter is given priority access to milk quota and can farm in partnership with the parent without having to invest in land and facilities of their own” said Ben Roche.
“Experience from other countries, particularly France, has shown that partnerships, either within families or between existing farmers, can achieve huge benefits in terms of improved lifestyle and economies of scale. They can also facilitate taking up off-farm employment or developing new enterprises”, he added.
Partnerships and Farming is available from the Teagasc Publications Office, phone: 00353 1 6376021, email: pubications@hq.teagasc.ie, price €10.