New business models, generational renewal and risk management in European agriculture

Flanders, and Europe as a whole, suffers from a rapidly aging farmer population. Yet only 13% of Flemish farmers state they have a successor to take over the farm, leaving many no option but to sell it. So the number of Flemish farmers dropped by 59% since 2001 and still decreases. The issue is rapidly becoming one of the top priorities for governments and policy makers. The new proposal for the CAP post-2020 states it as one of the 9 priorities of the CAP (under the title “support generational renewal”). This importance is not reflected in the academic literature. Current literature on the topic is focused on the factors that influence having a successor, or what factors influence children from established farmers to want to take over. The main gaps we identify are (1) the inclusion of recent successors as key actors in generational renewal; (2) the research on de novo farmers, those who enter the agricultural sector without inheriting a farm and (3) how entry model (succession or de novo) influences the successfulness of the farm. In this PhD project I will attempt to fill these gaps by analyzing the key differences and similarities between de novo farmers and successors. Additionally, I will study farm succession from the viewpoint of the recent successor to analyze the factors that influence the decision making on succession. Lastly, I will combine the two studies above to identify the key factors that make for a successful farm, both for successors and de novo farmers.