The Succession Crisis in <scp>E</scp>uropean Agriculture

Abstract

Abstract This article addresses the issues raised by C hiswell and L obley concerning our publication ‘ U nderstanding F arm S uccession as S ocially C onstructed E ndogenous C ycles'. Our response rebuts C hiswell and L obley's criticisms of the article and assembles evidence from the literature to suggest that in a number of countries and regions of E urope, farm succession failure is at crisis levels. We suggest that the primary source of C hiswell and L obley's optimism is the international FARMTRANSFERS survey, which they interpret as providing a positive assessment of farm transfer within the family. We present an alternative interpretation of their conclusions.