YOUNG farmers face "serious and unnecessary challenges" that impact on the entire industry, according to a major new survey.

NatWest says the number of young people entering the sector continues to fall while those already in it cannot grow and diversify their farms.

The report –Harvesting the Future for young farmers – is based on a study of more than 500 young and potential new entrant farmers in Britain.

The study said key challenges to entering and succeeding in the industry included:

n "Dead man’s shoes" syndrome – limited succession opportunities, often combined with complex family dynamics;

n Inability to embrace new farming models – 20 per cent of the young farmers were looking for new ways to access farming such as share farming, but ever larger farms make this difficult;

n access to funding and varying levels of business skills are obstacles to investment and growth – 36 per cent did not have access to sufficient advice and resources to develop their businesses.

However, the report said young farmers hold a huge economic potential – almost 20,000 new diversification projects could be delivered by young farmers, generating £11,900 in additional income per farm.

It said highly-skilled tech savvy new entrants are finding innovative ways of working – from using drones for monitoring crops to the electronic identification of livestock (EID).

Entrepreneurial young farmers are tapping in to new funding opportunities such as crowdfunding and 52 per cent plan to diversify in the next two years.

With increased market volatility and uncertainty post-Brexit, the report calls for a more joined-up, cross government, farming sector and finance framework to ensure the economic potential does not remain untapped.

In particular, NatWest calls for a new Cabinet Committee – one supported by a Better Brexit Farming Strategy Taskforce.

Ian Burrow, head of agriculture at NatWest, said: "Millennial farmers are a high tech, high skilled, highly motivated group who hold a realistic picture of farming in their heads and want a career on the land. They are, however, seriously constrained in a number of ways.

"With Brexit further heightening these challenges and increasing uncertainty, it is important we act now. Unless additional investment is secured, it is unlikely that the economic potential these young people hold will be unlocked.

"Banks, government, families, and communities need to come together to ensure today’s young farmers receive the support they deserve."

The report's action plan includes a Succession Summit of farming bodies and local and national authorities, to tackle farming succession planning; a Government review of taxation, planning and local housing costs for farming communities; and a UK-wide roll out of the Forestry Commission’s Starter Farms programme.

A cabinet committee on economy and industrial strategy (Agricultural Economy), to enable the farming community to make the most of Brexit, jointly chaired by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Chancellor.

Farming specific USO (universal service obligation) for connectivity, with a dedicated action plan on mobile and broadband, and a working group to explore new loan guarantee facilities specifically for new entrants and young farmers.