Young farmers need access to a "land and loans" guarantee scheme to give them a foothold in agriculture, a rural youth organisation is warning.

Macra said figures suggest that only 5% of farmers are under the age of 35 and unless measures are urgently introduced to deal with the "barriers" that prevent younger people getting into farming, the outlook is "dire".

John Keane, national president of Macra, which claims to represent 10,000 young people, said there are a number of key barriers in the way of younger people who want to farm.

Top of the list, according to Keane, is access to land.

He told the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, that with land prices accelerating there needs to be significant investment in supporting young people who want to be farmers.

Keane said Macra believes that a succession scheme should be developed which would give young farmers access to land and a loans guarantee scheme that would enable them to access to low-cost finance.

He said without significant changes there was a crisis coming down the line for farming in Ireland.

Keane told the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine yesterday (October, 26) that among the key barriers that prevent more young people getting in to farming are; access to land, access to affordable, unsecured finance, support and knowledge transfer and lifestyle.

He said Macra wants to see a succession scheme developed which fits the needs of older farmers by providing financial security but also offers the right supports to younger farmers to take over a farm.

"Limiting the access to a small number of young people will do little to ensuring the long term viability and growth of all rural areas," he warned.

Macra wants a scheme that can deal with the worries older farmers have around future financial security and one that will provide younger people a living and a lifestyle that is comparable with their friends.

Keane said without "generational renewal" across Irish farms there would be questions over future food production in Ireland.