The data tells a more nuanced story than the usual narrative. Succession is not being widely ignored, but nor is it being effectively completed. Most farms are somewhere in between, engaged, but unresolved. That gap between starting and finishing is where the real pressure sits. And in a sector facing ongoing change, that is the point that matters most.
We talk a lot about succession in farming, often as if it sits somewhere in the future. Something that will be dealt with when the time comes, when the pressure builds, or when circumstances force a decision. But when you look at the latest figures from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, a more immediate and more complex picture emerges. Succession is not being ignored across the sector. In fact, most farms are engaging with it in some way. The issue is not whether people are thinking about succession. It is whether they are getting through it.
Farm succession planning in the UK: engagement is high, completion is low