The number of farms in the country and average farm size continue to be quite stable according to the latest information released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
There are 139,600 farms. This is down from 139,860 in 2010, a drop of 260 or 0.2%. Average farm size is 35.5ha compared with 35.7ha in 2010. Total utilisable agricultural area (UAA) is 4,959,500ha. This is down from 4,994,353 in 2010, a drop of 34,853ha (0.7%).
The latest figures are for the year 2013 and were produced by the CSO from data based on questionnaires sent to 54,669 farmers that year and from Department of Agriculture information.
Regional disparity
There are more farms in the Border, Midlands and West (BMW) region than in the South and East (SE) region, despite them being of equal land area.
There are 73,600 farms in the BMS and 66,000 in the SE, and average farm size is 27.1ha and 38.6ha respectively. Average standard output in 2013 was €23,013 and €50,303. This is the average monetary value of agricultural output at farmgate prices.
The BMW region contains the majority of small farms while the SE has the majority of big farms. The two regions have an almost equal number of mid-size farms.
Over 60% of farms of 10ha or less are in the BMW.Over 72% of farms of 100ha or more are in the SE.The SE has approximately 16,000 farms of 30ha to 50ha and the BMW has 14,000. The land area farmed in 2013 was 4.96m hectares of which 423,000ha was commonage. Two thirds of commonage is in the BMW region.
Enterprises
Specialist beef production continues to be the most common farm type, accounting for over half of all farms at 78,800. Next come mixed grazing livestock, specialist sheep and mixed crops. Just 1.9% of farms have mixed crops and livestock.
The figures show how
enterprises are divided in different areas of the
country.
80% of dairy cows are in the SE region.52% of suckler cows are in the BMW, 48% in the SE.56% of breeding ewes are in the BMW, 44% in the SE.48% of pigs are in the BMW, 52% in the SE.There were 10.1m poultry in the country in 2013.69% of birds are in the BMW, 31% in the SE. Farm owners
Of the 139,600 farms in the state, 139,100 (99.6%) are classified as family farms. Over 88% (122,900) of family farm holders were male, the other 16,700 female.
Over half were aged 55 or over, while 5.9% of farm holders were aged under 35. The proportion of farm holders aged 65 and over was lowest in specialist dairying (14.1%) and mixed field crops (16.7%) and highest in other (35.4%) and specialist beef production (29.3%).
Over half (70,300) of farm holders stated that farming was their sole occupation, while under one-quarter (24.1%) regarded it as a subsidiary occupation.
Over half (52.3%) of farm holders for whom farming was their sole occupation were in the specialist beef production category, and a further 17.8% were in specialist dairying.
Specialist dairying had the highest proportion of farmers with farming as their sole occupation (80.1%).
Those in the specialist sheep and other categories were least likely to have farming as their sole occupation, with 42.7% and 35.4% having farming as their sole occupation respectively.
Farm workforce: 27% of farm workers are
full-time
In 2013, 269,500 people worked on farms. Of these, 51.6% (139,100) were the farm holders, 42.0% (113,200) were family members and the remainder were non-family workers (17,200).
Over a quarter (74,100) of those working on farms were female. However, just over one-fifth (16,200) were holders of the farms on which they worked.
Just over one quarter (27%) of people working on farms worked full time (1.00 annual work unit), while over four in ten (42.7%) contributed less than half an annual work unit (AWU).
Over three-quarters (77.8%) of holders of
farms of 50ha and over
had worked a full AWU in the reference period,
and 73.8% of holders in
this category declared
farming as their sole
occupation.
Labour-intensive
Specialist dairying was the most labour-intensive farm type, with 84.0% of farm holders working a full AWU in 2013, and 94.9% working at least 0.75 AWU. In contrast, just 12.7% of farm holders on other farms worked 0.75 AWU or more.
Family members of the holder provided almost 30% of the total labour input.
The average labour input per farm was highest in the southeast region and the lowest average per farm was in the border region.
Over one-quarter (27.5%) of regular family workers were female, providing 19.0% of total labour input.
The data
The last major census of agriculture by the CSO – in which every farmer was surveyed by a questionnaire – was carried out in 2010. The next will be carried out in 2020. In between these major events the CSO gathers information from smaller samples of farmers, often to meet reporting requirements for Eurostat.
The CSO is making increasing use of information obtained from the Department of Agriculture’s Corporate Client System, including the EU payment scheme system and AIMS. According to the CSO, this is being done to reduce the survey burden on farmers, to improve accuracy and to reduce costs.
The number of farms in the country and average farm size continue to be quite stable according to the latest information released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
There are 139,600 farms. This is down from 139,860 in 2010, a drop of 260 or 0.2%. Average farm size is 35.5ha compared with 35.7ha in 2010. Total utilisable agricultural area (UAA) is 4,959,500ha. This is down from 4,994,353 in 2010, a drop of 34,853ha (0.7%).
The latest figures are for the year 2013 and were produced by the CSO from data based on questionnaires sent to 54,669 farmers that year and from Department of Agriculture information.
Regional disparity
There are more farms in the Border, Midlands and West (BMW) region than in the South and East (SE) region, despite them being of equal land area.
There are 73,600 farms in the BMS and 66,000 in the SE, and average farm size is 27.1ha and 38.6ha respectively. Average standard output in 2013 was €23,013 and €50,303. This is the average monetary value of agricultural output at farmgate prices.
The BMW region contains the majority of small farms while the SE has the majority of big farms. The two regions have an almost equal number of mid-size farms.
Over 60% of farms of 10ha or less are in the BMW.Over 72% of farms of 100ha or more are in the SE.The SE has approximately 16,000 farms of 30ha to 50ha and the BMW has 14,000. The land area farmed in 2013 was 4.96m hectares of which 423,000ha was commonage. Two thirds of commonage is in the BMW region.
Enterprises
Specialist beef production continues to be the most common farm type, accounting for over half of all farms at 78,800. Next come mixed grazing livestock, specialist sheep and mixed crops. Just 1.9% of farms have mixed crops and livestock.
The figures show how
enterprises are divided in different areas of the
country.
80% of dairy cows are in the SE region.52% of suckler cows are in the BMW, 48% in the SE.56% of breeding ewes are in the BMW, 44% in the SE.48% of pigs are in the BMW, 52% in the SE.There were 10.1m poultry in the country in 2013.69% of birds are in the BMW, 31% in the SE. Farm owners
Of the 139,600 farms in the state, 139,100 (99.6%) are classified as family farms. Over 88% (122,900) of family farm holders were male, the other 16,700 female.
Over half were aged 55 or over, while 5.9% of farm holders were aged under 35. The proportion of farm holders aged 65 and over was lowest in specialist dairying (14.1%) and mixed field crops (16.7%) and highest in other (35.4%) and specialist beef production (29.3%).
Over half (70,300) of farm holders stated that farming was their sole occupation, while under one-quarter (24.1%) regarded it as a subsidiary occupation.
Over half (52.3%) of farm holders for whom farming was their sole occupation were in the specialist beef production category, and a further 17.8% were in specialist dairying.
Specialist dairying had the highest proportion of farmers with farming as their sole occupation (80.1%).
Those in the specialist sheep and other categories were least likely to have farming as their sole occupation, with 42.7% and 35.4% having farming as their sole occupation respectively.
Farm workforce: 27% of farm workers are
full-time
In 2013, 269,500 people worked on farms. Of these, 51.6% (139,100) were the farm holders, 42.0% (113,200) were family members and the remainder were non-family workers (17,200).
Over a quarter (74,100) of those working on farms were female. However, just over one-fifth (16,200) were holders of the farms on which they worked.
Just over one quarter (27%) of people working on farms worked full time (1.00 annual work unit), while over four in ten (42.7%) contributed less than half an annual work unit (AWU).
Over three-quarters (77.8%) of holders of
farms of 50ha and over
had worked a full AWU in the reference period,
and 73.8% of holders in
this category declared
farming as their sole
occupation.
Labour-intensive
Specialist dairying was the most labour-intensive farm type, with 84.0% of farm holders working a full AWU in 2013, and 94.9% working at least 0.75 AWU. In contrast, just 12.7% of farm holders on other farms worked 0.75 AWU or more.
Family members of the holder provided almost 30% of the total labour input.
The average labour input per farm was highest in the southeast region and the lowest average per farm was in the border region.
Over one-quarter (27.5%) of regular family workers were female, providing 19.0% of total labour input.
The data
The last major census of agriculture by the CSO – in which every farmer was surveyed by a questionnaire – was carried out in 2010. The next will be carried out in 2020. In between these major events the CSO gathers information from smaller samples of farmers, often to meet reporting requirements for Eurostat.
The CSO is making increasing use of information obtained from the Department of Agriculture’s Corporate Client System, including the EU payment scheme system and AIMS. According to the CSO, this is being done to reduce the survey burden on farmers, to improve accuracy and to reduce costs.
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