Context

Taking over a farm is a decisive moment in the cycle of an agricultural business – it not only secures the future of farms, but also the stability of rural areas. In Austria, this handover takes place particularly early compared with other European countries and usually within the family: at 23.4%, the proportion of farm managers under the age of 40 is well above the EU average of 11.9%. This pleasing figure is the result of extensive agricultural policy measures promoting early takeovers – from tax and inheritance regulations, to support instruments such as an establishment premium, and educational and advisory services as part of the CAP Strategic Plan.

Simultaneously, the multitude of legal, financial and organisational requirements poses a challenge for young farmer takeovers. For young people in particular, getting started is often associated with uncertainties (market conditions) and bureaucratic hurdles. Intra-family dynamics or the desire for non-family handovers can bring additional complexity.

This is where the ‘Next Generation - Hofübernahme im Fokus’ (‘Focus on farm handovers') project came in, closing an important gap by preparing the wide range of information on farm takeovers in a way that was understandable and practical for the target group. It made an important contribution to encouraging young farmers, giving them security and ensuring a sustainable succession of generations in agriculture.

Objectives

The project had a number of aims, beginning with raising awareness of the topic of farm takeovers and handovers. Farm transferees and transferors also needed to be supported and strengthened in the knowledge transfer process through materials and communication measures, to make the process as structured and conflict-free as possible.

Another aspect of the project was to generate motivation. Young people should be encouraged to take over farms, develop professional pride and recognise the potential in a life in farming. As such, there needed to be content that was easily accessible using modern communication tools such as social media and interactive brochures.

Activities

The project was launched in April 2024 with a press conference initiated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, at which the Minister of Agriculture, State Secretary for Youth and the chair of Landjugend (Rural Youth Austria) presented the campaign, initially consisting of a landing page, posters and a sticker campaign created by the Ministry of Agriculture. This event attracted media attention and raised awareness about generational change in agriculture at an early stage.

As a result, two brochures (funded through CAP) were developed: one on family farm handovers, dealing with processes within the family, and one on non-family farm handovers, highlighting alternatives such as leasing out farms or handovers outside the family environment. Both brochures explain complex legal, tax and social framework conditions in a comprehensible way. A photo shoot on farms provided authentic imagery, and the materials show actual young farmers, to create identification and closeness to the target group.

As an innovative centrepiece of the project, a farm transfer brochure was developed in the form of an interactive video (again funded through CAP). Users can choose individual information paths depending on their life situation, from the perspective of both transferor and transferee. Embedded .PDF documents with further information expand on the content, and the brochure is publicly accessible on the Landjugend website, offering low-threshold, barrier-free access to knowledge.

A sticker campaign was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture with catchy, humorous slogans used to spread positive messages about agriculture. The stickers have been distributed since 20 March 2024 to Landjugend members, who displayed them prominently, and are still available on the Ministry's website. Four posters depicting testimonials from young farmers were also designed and distributed in agricultural schools and all chambers of agriculture throughout Austria. These testimonials also featured in several social media posts and reels produced by the Ministry of Agriculture.

To provide targeted information on agricultural policy support measures, the Ministry of Agriculture created a landing page that clearly presents all CAP-relevant subsidies for young farmers. In addition, a leaflet summarising this content was created and distributed. Finally, a comprehensive social media campaign with 51 reels was implemented in summer 2024, in which young farm managers convey key topics on taking over a farm in an authentic and practical way (CAP-funded). The reels are being used again by Landjugend, as they are still relevant.

Gender equality

Women were equally involved in project development, management and implementation, from the federal director to regional representatives. As an organisation, Landjugend Österreich has equal representation, with each function held by a woman and a man. Decisions are made jointly, which was also consistently practised in the project. Young women were able to present themselves as role models in the project, contribute their perspectives and motivate other girls to pursue a career in agriculture.

Content contributions, social media reels and photos deliberately showed women as active farm managers and farm successors to break down role stereotypes. At press conferences, interviews and stage appearances, attention was paid to a balanced representation of women and men. Gender-sensitive language is used in all aspects of the project and in day-to-day work.

Generational Renewal

All CAP-funded aspects of the project were initiated, planned and implemented by Landjugend Österreich (Rural Youth Austria) – a youth organisation by young people for young people. Young people were involved in all project phases right from the start, from brainstorming and content design to practical implementation and communication.

Young farm takeovers were the focus of the campaign as testimonials (such as in reels and posters), which promoted identification and the courage to take over a farm. Regionally successful examples were integrated and disseminated by the regional Landjugend organisations, networking at the peer level in the 14–35 age group.

Main Results

51 social media reels with young farmer takeovers reached thousands of young people on social media in what was a low-threshold and practical knowledge transfer activity. Two topic-specific brochures (on family and non-family farm takeovers, with print runs of 2 600 and 1 800 copies respectively) were printed and distributed throughout Austria via Landjugend, agricultural technical and vocational schools, and higher agricultural and forestry colleges. An interactive video brochure with several storylines for transferees and transferors was also published on the Landjugend website and was viewed several times a day.

Thousands of stickers created by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture were distributed to young farmers to make agriculture visible in everyday life. There was also a poster campaign with four authentic testimonials from young farmers displayed in all agricultural schools and chambers of agriculture throughout Austria, and several thousand copies of a flyer on CAP benefits for young farmers were widely distributed via schools and chambers of agriculture. A landing page with comprehensive and bundled information on subsidies and educational offers was also created, and to date has had roughly 17 000 views.

A high-profile press conference was also held with the Minister of Agriculture, State Secretary for Youth and chair of Landjugend, achieving broad media coverage.

Qualitatively, the project created a strong emotional identification with the topic of taking over a farm through authentic role models and modern means of communication, and reduced uncertainty and complexity around legal, tax and subsidy issues by presenting them in an understandable, youth-friendly way, while supporting both transferees and transferors.

Key lessons

The project met an urgent social challenge – the imminent generational change on thousands of Austrian farms – with an innovative, target group-oriented education and communication strategy that seamlessly combined authentic images, interactive video brochures and social media reels. It was crucial for the team not only to create knowledge transfer, but also emotional identification: young farmers needed to see real role models from their environment, receive tailored - as opposed to generalised - information about organic, alpine, arable and wine farms and be visibly encouraged to take responsibility. The project knew that it needed to combine well-founded content, modern storytelling and nationwide reach if it was to create an inspiring blueprint for sustainable farm succession throughout Europe.