Becoming a farmer in a shifting landscape

Whether a person acquires a farm from family or a third party, their ability to successfully establish themselves will largely depend on their access to money and land.

In 2023, a report by the Cour des Comptes (the French Audit Office¹) stated that current instruments for helping with farm establishment and start-up were not entirely adapted to the existing diversity of farm models and profiles. They are gradually becoming ineffective, and they fail to support unique projects, such as those focused on short supply chains. Additionally, the farm aid system mainly benefits people who are younger than 40 years old, but one third of farms are established by people who are older than that. Lastly, the system’s administrative constraints are viewed as hurdles, and thus farm aid is rarely applied for.
That said, the system does provide access to collaborative support that new farmers find helpful. As a result, people are able to get a better handle on farm operations and reduce the drops in performance that generally occur in the first 3 to 5 years following farm transfer.
→ Test areas on farms allow prospective farmers to explore potential projects. More than 1,500 people have taken part in this programme since it was launched in 2007, and more than 81% of test projects focused on organic production systems.
→ Farmers without any family connections to farming can benefit from "internships”, where they gain practical experience in running their future farm, whether as the new head farmer or as a partner.
→ Before fully joining a GAEC, farmers can engage in a yearlong trial period and withdraw if the project does not suit them.
SAFERs and their partners have launched a capital fund—ELAN—whose purpose is to help the next generation of farmers become established. It supports young farmers, allowing them to get started in farming without needing to immediately invest in land, leaving that possibility for a later date.

The cost of taking over a farm is a frequently cited hurdle for new farmers; it has also been mentioned as the source of the financial difficulties experienced during a farm’s first few years of operations. However, few data are available on this topic. A study looked at applications for the young farmer’s grant (DJA) submitted in the Puy-de-Dôme region by 1,251 farmers under the age of 40. It found that, between 2007 and 2022, the average cost of acquiring a farm was €79,457 and that farmers invested an average of €201,997 over the next 4 years, a sum equivalent to 70% of their total start-up costs. There was, however, a great deal of heterogeneity in these figures, reflecting the diversity in farm establishment types and farmer background².
Loans played an essential role in financing all the start-up phases: they covered up to 80% of farm acquisition costs and 65% of investment costs. There was a very heterogenous relationship between grant award amounts and start-up costs. Indeed, award amounts are determined and refined based on the young farmer’s background, farm plan, and regional location; they are not directly affected by the amount invested by the farmer. Thus, the DJA is not a reliable source of funding for asset acquisition; instead, it acts as back-up financing to help young farmers with challenges they may encounter while getting established (e.g., lack of revenue, cash flow concerns, need for self-financing).

"Shifting to an agroecological approach represents a major professional change that is costly for farmers,” says Xavier Coquil, an INRAE ergonomics researcher specialising in professional transitions and the accompanying support mechanisms. He continues, "They know what they are leaving behind, but they do not yet know where they are headed. In this transitional space, they must acquire a new type of experience, a process that requires mourning past types of experience. It is a change in their ways of doing and thinking, in their relationship with the living world as well as the socioeconomic environment, which gradually moves forward because of an initial source of momentum." 

Sociotechnical bottlenecks can stymie the agroecological transition at several levels:
→ at the individual level: lack of knowledge about new farming practices and the absence of appropriate advice; some farmers' reliance on conventional farming yields, which are higher in the shorter term and therefore provide a greater sense of financial security
→ at the farm level: lack of land available for developing alternative practices or the appreciable size of previous investments in a given technical system to become profitable; potentially unsuitable equipment and raw materials
→ at the supply-chain level: uncertainty around product outlets, from storage to processing to sales
→ at the regional level: natural resource management regulations must be modified to allow certain practices (tree ownership, management of common pastures)
→ at the national level: absence of the scientific knowledge or public policy support needed to guide farmers; lack of data and supportive evidence to facilitate shifts towards new production systems.
Regardless, "by beginning to adopt agroecological practices, farmers regain their professional footing [...]. It is riskier, but it brings greater job satisfaction,” affirms Emmanuel Poussard, an occupational psychologist at CNAM (Vaucluse agricole, 2023).
Research on farmers who have adopted more sustainable agricultural systems reveals that individuals expressed positive emotions about their relationships with others (e.g., guiding, working together, receiving inherited knowledge) and with their farms (e.g., understanding one's land, experimenting, experiencing pleasant surprises)³.
These positive experiences are also likely to boost the attractiveness of agricultural professions and encourage people to re-engage with their work. For farmers in financially precarious positions who are committed to saving their farms, adopting agroecological practices has proved beneficial from an economic perspective and has also increased their autonomy, happiness at work, meaning, and consistency⁴.
 

CA-SYS, Testing agroecology at large scales

INRAE runs the CA-SYS platform, a 125-ha collaborative facility for experimental research located in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It can carry out assessments of whether agroecological systems with breakthrough innovations are feasible. To this end, CA-SYS uses updated experimental methods that combine various approaches: breeding plant varieties, minimising inputs, exploiting biological interactions, and structuring agricultural space. 
Its collaborative efforts bring together farmers, technicians, educators, and researchers. Each year, it hosts around 150 students in agricultural training courses (BTSA) to help the farming of the future flourish.

Women: key facilitators of the agroecological transition

Women farmers are often the impetus behind a farm’s decision to go organic. They are highly concerned about their family's health and environmental issues. They also tend to handle farm administration and accounting, which means they are aware of the farm’s economic situation. Lastly, they are more likely to organise farm workshops, notably to create stronger relationships with consumers (FNAB, 2018). In 2020, women represented a quarter of all farmers, joint farmers, and associates on organic farms. More generally, these same patterns are seen when it comes to the implementation of agroecological practices, which are motivated by care and consideration for others (TRANSAÉ project, 2016–2020).

Making it easier to become a farmer and providing support for agroecological farm plans are important actions when it comes to helping farmers establish themselves. However, also important are farmers' working conditions and the viability of their farms. They all play a decisive role in farmer success and farm persistence. 

<sub>1. url.inrae.fr/49Ojbp2
2. Jeanneaux P. et Latruffe L. Coûts et financement de l’installation aidée entre 2007 et 2022 : éclairages à partir du cas du Puy-de-Dôme. 17th Annual Social Science Research Days, Paris-Saclay, December 14–15, 2023.
3. Barbier C. et al. (2015). Activités, 12-2. url.inrae.fr/3ZYzo6y
4. solidaritepaysans.org
5. Read the article: url.inrae.fr/401gjlt
6. Place F. et al. (2022). url.inrae.fr/49PsTHH</sub>