Romania’s farm managers are older than the EU average. Adevărul, on 19 October, carried Eurostat’s 2023 figures: 41.7% of farm managers in the country were at least 65, against about 32% in the EU. The Commission’s CAP strategic plan puts the share aged 65 and over at 44.3%. Under-40s rarely appear in charge. This is not a law and not farm advice.

Since 2010 the average EU holding has grown from 19.7 to 24.7 hectares, and small farms have thinned out. Eurostat ties consolidation in the east to young people leaving for cities or abroad and to retirements without a successor. Romania stays dual: many tiny households beside large commercial farms. A young person can work on the family holding without appearing as manager in the statistics.

European money exists, but the pace is slow. AFIR’s DR-12 scheme, open from 6 October to 2 December, offers up to €200,000 a project. The public counter after 18 October showed 36 livestock files, with about €120 million still available, and 305 files in other sectors, with about €70 million left. Until 5 November the quality threshold is 80 points; then it falls to 45. Consultants in the piece say many are waiting for the lower bar. Own-contribution cash remains a brake.

Adriana Verdeș, 27, works after hours on her parents’ farm, with more than 1,000 sheep and 50 cows. She says you can live from farming, but without free time: animals do not keep holidays. Neither she nor her sister has decided to take over. A shortage of village labour makes a human schedule hard.

Beekeeper Cosmin Măndică, who also sells honey in supermarkets, says young people want quick results and that the work is physical. He proposes school education and state support, not a ready recipe. These are voices in a report, not a national poll.

Installation grants and cheap loans, mentioned by the Commission, still depend on access and a viable holding. DR-12 is open, not an award already won.

Image: Ioan Cepaliga, wheat harvest, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; an archive field, not the Verdeș farm in October 2026.

Sources consulted: Why young people leave farming: you have money, but you give up free time - Adevarul; Available funds counter - AFIR.