DANISH AGRICULTURE (5)

All economic sectors need renewal, whereby those retiring from the business are replaced by a new generation. Nowhere is this more important than farming. Since land is the ultimate fixed asset, you can't outsource agriculture to China or the Czech Republic.

Which means that it is extremely worrying that young Danes can't get started on the farming ladder. In 2006 there were almost 7,300 farmers under the age of 40, around 15% of the total; today that has fallen to 3,500, or 8%. And that's not because young people don't want to do it; applications to agricultural college are at a record high.

The reason lies in the financial crisis. The huge fall in land prices (admittedly from a ridiculous high) has put many farmers in a position of negative equity. They can't sell their farms and retire without incurring big losses, so their only option is to soldier on and hope for better times. While at the other end, it is almost impossible for young people starting out to get finance from financial institutions who have been burnt by that same trend.

All over Europe the average age of farmers is increasing. Denmark at least has the advantage that a new generation want to get involved. But they can't. This is a bottleneck that needs to be unblocked.

Walter Blotscher