The median age of the person on each farm in NI that is responsible for the day-to-day running of the business was 58, according to the EU Farm Structure Survey for 2016.

Although only 6% of managers are under 35 years old, this has increased from 4% in the last EU Farm Survey for NI, which was conducted in 2013.

The report published by DAERA on Thursday also showed that the ages of farmers differed for each business size class. On very small farms, 36% were aged 65 or more, compared with 24% on small and 21% on medium or large farms.

The report states that females accounted for 24% of the agriculture workforce (including part-time workers) in NI in 2016 and 16% of the labour input (in terms of full-time equivalences). It also showed that 5% of NI farms were managed by females.

On 99% of NI farms, the principal manager was either the owner or a family member of the owner. Farmers and their family provided 90% of the labour input on farms.

The total workforce in NI farms in 2016 was 53,877 persons (including part-time) with the total labour input in full-time equivalences equating to 28,640.

Further reports on the results from the EU Farm Structure Survey will feature in next week’s Irish Farmers Journal and on www.farmersjournal.ie.

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Survey shows 6% of NI farmers aged under 35

Results of a survey published on Thursday that details the structure of NI agriculture has shown that only 6% the principal managers on NI farms are under the age of 35.