Jim McCarthy, one of Ireland's most successful farmers, told delegates at the World Dairy Summit in Dublin that in his opinion the days of the family farm as we know it are over.

Mr McCarthy reiterated a fact that has been echoing around marts for years; without government subsidies, the family farm would be usnsustainable for the vast majority. Family farms have always relied on free labour from family members but younger generations are now seeing this as an unattractive career choice.

Mr McCarthy was giving a seminar on family versus corporate farms. The general consensus is that the family farm was viewed essentially as something good and as the "holy grail of agriculture".

On the other hand, corporate farms, were perceived as a threat to the family farm, something that was profit-driven by land grabbers who weren't really farmers.

"The changing reality of farming is that corporate farming is witnessing a sharp increase. Soft commodities are the next dotcom boom and, therefore, are attracting a lot of institutional money," said Mr McCarthy. "Over the next five years, corporate farms are going to float on the stock market and this is certainly where we intend on bringing our business."

Mr McCarthy stressed that it was possible for family farms to compete against corporate farms if their if their owners were prepared to run them as a business and not as a way of life.

"For too long farming has endeavoured to see itself as different from any other business. It is not. Any business, whether private or corporate, is either well-run or poorly-run, but in general, corporate businesses have a better understanding of management," said Mr McCarthy.

Jim maintains that there are five main characteristics of a well-run business and these were structure, strategy, capability, capital and clarity.

"How many family farms have a clearly-defined, written plan?" asked Mr McCarthy. Every successful business needs someone that has a vision of where the business will be in 10-15 years time. Nothing can be more demoralising than someone who is not capable and doen't have the vision or initiative to lead a business into the future.

Mr McCarthy is a father has two children and he made it quite clear that neither would be getting jobs in his business as a birthright. They would have to prove themselves before they would become part of his corporation. He reiterated that he only head hunts the best and if his children didn't make the cut they wouldn't be hired.

"A bad habit of family farms is that the familiar risks are underestimated and the unfamiliar risks are overestimated," he continued. "They tend to be conservative and resistant to change and are too willing to commit capital to low returns."

However, Mr McCarthy acknowledged that corporate farms often underestimated the neccessary skill level required to farm profitably and very often expanded too rapidly without having an adequate infrastructure in place. Corporate farms also have the tendency to create local hostility by expanding too rapidly in one area said Mr McCarthy.

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