The European Commission has said that it is hoping to create 377,000 new farmers with its generational renewal strategy.

At a seminar on the different aspects of the commission's Vision for Agriculture and Food in Brussels today, May 7, the commission said it will also provide €8.5 billion to support generational renewal, with 400,000 farmers set to benefit from investment support.

This funding is set to be available to young farmers over the next five years, in addition to the current payments that are already available to farmers.

According to the commission, the average age of farmers in the EU is 57, with only one in 10 farmers below the age of 40.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said: "This is not something new. I mean we have been working on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for decades now to support the installation of young farmers, and to facilitate the access of of newcomers into the profession.

"If you look across the states, you will see that there are some member states that are better, in terms of guaranteeing generational renewal, and there are others that are in a worse situation. Overall, we are not in a good situation," the spokesperson added.

According to the commission, in 2010 the average age of a farm manager in the EU was 56. By 2020, that had increased to 57-years-old.

In the same period, the number of farmers in the EU under 40 years old decreased from 28% to 12%. Furthermore, only 32% of European farms were run by women in 2020.

Growing urbanisation within the EU has also presented farmers with some difficulties with succession planning.

The spokesperson said: "I think what we should not forget is that in many cases there is no next generation, because the next generation has already moved to the city, has chosen another career, or because they do not feel that there is enough opportunity in agriculture for them.

"If you have these entrepreneurial abilities, we want to make it attractive in a way to start farming so that there is a next generation," he added.