Paying down debt....

[Serup]

I know in Denmark you have a problem with inheritance tax, so that is the main reason for borrowing on land.

But would you say that, by chasing land up and up, farmers have actually taken their industry into a precarious position in your country?

Do many dairy farmers save for retirement by means of pension, or personal holdings of stocks and bonds funds and cash, or do they expect the sale of the farm to leave them enough for retirement? If the latter, then has this plan failed for those that have been forced to exit the industry?

The size of average herd has risen in the last year due to retirements. Does that imply that smaller farms are more likely to go out of business in Denmark, or is some of this natural retirements by older farmers?

Yes, inheriting the farm is expensive!
Many farmers want to save on pensions, but the banks don't really like that, as pensions is protected from creditors, so you take their available values and put them out of their reach. Most banks wants farmers to have about 70% or less of values as dept before you can do what you want. So yes, a lot of farmers have been left with 40 years of hard work, and nothing to show for it when they exit the industry.

The size development mostly tell a story about farms that grow to survive, and others who close and move the cows to other farms that expand. And many older farmers just sell the cows when prices are low, because they loose money on the daily business, so better sell now than wait maybe 2 or 3 years till their planned retirement.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Sounds like the bank are making way more than the farmers in Denmark and thats just to stay still!

 

[Serup]

Thats is certanly true. Enough farmers are "stupid" enough to farm under these conditions, so supply and demand equals out the market.