Ireland is holding on to smaller and mixed farms better than most other EU countries, newly published figures behind the EU farm census for 2020 show, but the trends in farm consolidation and specialisation are not slowing.

The EU’s farms have been getting bigger for decades, with falling numbers of small and medium-sized farmers feeding a 25% reduction in EU farms from 2010 to 2020.

Mixed farms are also becoming less common, with 40% of all farms lost over the time having been mixed livestock and tillage enterprises.

Some 800 EU farmers left the sector every day between 2010 and 2020, while the number of larger farms rose by 14% over the decade.

These figures reveal a “forgotten story” in farming and should act as a “wake-up call” European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski has said.

Data specific to Ireland seen by the Irish Farmers Journal shows that the country’s small and medium-sized farmers are holding their own better than most in Europe.

Slower pace

Farmers are exiting the sector at a slower pace in Ireland. However, around 10,000 farmers were still lost over the decade from 2010. This represents a 7% drop here in comparison to a 24% slump at EU level.

The number of mixed enterprises in Ireland reduced by a quarter, cattle farms were down 6% and there are 30% fewer vegetable growers.

The farming population aged under 25 rose by almost half here while this trend went the opposite way across the EU as a whole. The census reports that the number of female farmers below the age of 25 more than doubled in Ireland.

There was a rise in the number of farmers aged above 65 in Ireland, despite EU averages pointing towards a general decrease in elderly farmers.

From 2013 onwards, the number of certified organic farms grew by almost two-thirds across the EU, while more than doubling in Ireland.

Coupled support

The census report states that coupled support can help maintain the viability of extensive beef holdings. It also points out that EU output did not fall along the same trajectory as farm numbers, given efficiencies of scale.

Exact figures contained in the EU farm census may differ from those provided by the Central Statistics Offices (CSO) due to differences in reporting.