The article aims to determine the differences in the perception of the severity of real threats regarding the age structure of those employed in the agricultural sectors of Ukraine and the European Union, as presented in strategic policy documents. The relevance of this study is due to the need to bring the Ukrainian Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas until 2030 in line with the demographic crisis in rural areas, considering the loss of human capital during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The theoretical and methodological basis for the research was provided by general scientific and economic methods of understanding modern phenomena and processes caused by the demographic crisis in the agricultural sector and youth policies of Ukraine and the European Union to overcome it. These include monographic, institutional, comparative and statistical analysis, graphical, normative and positive approaches, abstract and logical tools, etc.

The article reveals the consequences of the imperfect policies of Ukraine and the European Union to attract young people aged 15-34 to work in the agricultural sector. This is manifested in the deterioration of the age structure among workers, the growing quantitative gap between young workers and older age groups, the continued decline in migration, the disastrous gender parity index, the increasing demographic burden on the economically active population, etc. The article highlights the differences between innovative approaches to generational renewal presented in the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas of Ukraine until 2030 and the Report on the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the EU Agri-Food Sector for 2028-2034. The Ukrainian Strategy does not address the threats associated with the aging of the rural population and the deepening demographic crisis due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the proposed measures do not correspond to the real scale of human losses and the depth of socio-economic deformations in the countryside. In contrast, the European Union objectively assesses the situation with the aging of farm managers and is aware of the real barriers to agroecological transition.

Several practical innovations are proposed, including social innovations for accelerated generational renewal through the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.