An ONLINE matchmaking service with a difference has been proposed for rural Ireland
However, this service is not aimed at assisting Cupid by putting love-seeking men and women in contact.
Instead, it is seeking to help land-starved young farmers get in contact with those interested in leasing their properties.
The service was proposed yesterday by Kieran O’Dowd, leader of the young farmer organisation Macra na Feirme.
Mr O’Dowd said the online portal would “act like a dating agency” by providing a space where landowners interested in leasing their farms could “register their interest in doing so anonymously”.
Similarly, farmers interested in leasing land on a long-term basis could register with the site. Where the needs of the farmers and the land-owners matched, arrangements could then be made to draw up a lease agreement tailored to the needs of both parties.
Mr O’Dowd asked the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to fund a feasibility study for the initiative, and he received an immediate and positive response.
Mr Coveney said he would “look at the idea of a portal”, adding that his department had the expertise.
He said there was no reason why they couldn’t support an initiative aimed at improving land mobility.
Both Mr Coveney and Mr O’Dowd were speaking at the launch of a report on the performance of the Land Mobility Service.
The service was launched on a pilot-project basis by Macra last year to encourage and facilitate the long-term leasing of farmland.
Three counties, Roscommon, Cork and Kilkenny, were targeted over the past 12 months.
Mr O’Dowd said the ground-breaking initiative had proven “phenomenally” successful, with 53 leases agreed and 400 contacts made with landowners and farmers.
The Macra leader said the service would now be extended to other counties, and he described the proposal of the online portal as a possible mechanism for growing its reach and influence.
Praising the work of the service, Mr Coveney bemoaned the fact that the vast majority of land-rentals in Ireland continued to be on a year-by-year or conacre basis.
The Minister said this arrangement made no sense for landowners of farmers.
Pointing out that just 6pc of farmers were under the age of 35, Mr Coveney said the work of the Land Mobility Service would be crucial if the ambitious expansion plans for the sector were to be realised.
(Source – Irish Independent – Farming Indo – Declan O Brien – 11/12/2014)
Read the Macra Na Feirme Land Mobility Report For 2014 Here: