Almost three-quarters of Scottish farm businesses are finding it difficult to recruit staff, according to Johnston Carmichael.
A survey by the accountancy firm revealed 70% of farmers and landowners were experiencing problems recruiting staff with the necessary skills as freedom of movement, in relation to Brexit, continued to be debated.
The annual research also found a third were positive about the future.
However, 45% were unsure about the future of the industry and almost 22% were feeling negative about the outlook for 2019 and beyond.
The three main concerns were input costs, selling costs and Brexit.
Just under a third said they had downgraded capital expenditure on their businesses because of continuing Brexit uncertainty and three-quarters said they had not undertaken any benchmarking, but a quarter were considering it.
“To cope with any of these concerns currently facing the rural sector, those in the top performing 25% of farm businesses are more likely to prosper, whilst those in the lower 25% need to review their farming policy,” said Johnston Carmichael partner and head of agriculture, Robin Dandie.
He said the ageing profile of the industry and lack of succession planning among farm businesses was evident in the survey results.
More than three-fifths of the respondents were over 50, while almost half have no succession plans in place and 42% said their retirement would require funding from the business.
Huntly livestock farmer John Gordon, of Wellheads Farm, said the farming sector’s ageing workforce was a concern.
He said: “It’s never too early to start thinking about the succession plan for your farming business as it does take a bit of time to get it done.
“Including the younger generation in planning is important as you should be taking them along with you in every decision.”