Farmers have been reminded to complete and return their census of agriculture forms by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the deadline has now passed.

More than 90,000 farmers have already completed and returned their forms. Those who are yet to complete the census will be receiving a second reminder letter and replacement form this week.

The CSO said answering the census should only take a few minutes, as it has been reduced to four pages. The forms can be returned in a provided freepost envelope or can be filled out online.

Those requiring any assistance or those who have any queries should call 1890 924 990.

Confidential

Under the Statistics Act 1993, the information provided by farmers to the CSO is strictly confidential and is only used for statistical purposes.

Speaking about the census of agriculture, CSO statistician Cathal Doherty said: “The census of agriculture questionnaire was issued early in September and we would like to thank every farmer who has completed and returned their questionnaire.

“We are asking farmers who have yet to return the questionnaire to do so now.

“The census of agriculture was first collected in Ireland in 1847 and is collected every 10 years to provide benchmark statistics on the number of farms in Ireland and their structure in terms of farm enterprise.

“This information will be of great value to the farming community and it forms part of an EU-wide programme of farm censuses being conducted this year.”

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