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Over 1,400 farmers left farming every year between 2016 and 2022, Irish Farmers Journal analysis of Census 2022 figures has revealed.
A total of 8,773 farmers have left farming since 2016, with almost half of those farmers located in Connacht, Clare, Kerry and Donegal.
Cork experienced the largest drop in farmer numbers since 2016, with 1,270 farmers departing farming during the six-year period.
Further analysis of Census data shows that 13,455 farmers left the sector between 2011 and 2022, equating to over 1,200 farmers per year.
While there was a general decline in farmer numbers from 2011 to 2016, the exodus has become more pronounced in the last six years.
For example, 18 farmers left the sector in Cavan between 2011 and 2016, but the figure surged to 660 between 2016 and 2022.
In Donegal, there were 83 fewer farmers between 2011 and 2016, and the figure increased to 393 in the six years between 2016 and 2022.
The number of farmers getting out of the job doubled in Cork – 1,270 left farming in the last six years, while 784 exited between 2011 and 2016.
In the 11 years between 2011 and 2022, Cork has lost 2,203 farmers, Mayo has lost 2,064 farmers, Galway has lost 1,434 and Kerry has lost 1,284 people from the land.
The slide in numbers is not as pronounced in parts of the east, although the number of farmers in every county in the country has fallen over the last six years.
The total number of farmers in Waterford fell by only nine farmers in the six-year period, while 18 exited the sector in Wicklow and 27 left the sector in Carlow.
Why are there fewer farmers?
In Census 2022, 61,473 people declared themselves as farmers. This number appears low compared to the 123,000 farmers in the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme, however, the discrepancy is likely due to the fact that thousands of farmers have an off-farm job.
Many farmers are part-time and probably identified themselves in the Census primarily by their day job, such as a secondary teacher, a carpenter, a secretary and so on.
Another factor pushing down farmer numbers is the age demographic in the industry. The average age of farmers in Ireland is 58 years of age, the Teagasc National Farm Survey shows, so there is a cohort of farmers simply retiring from the sector every year.
Suckler numbers
The number of farmers leaving farming, especially in the west, also mirrors the falling numbers of suckler cows in Ireland. In the six years between 2016 and 2022, the number of suckler cows fell by 153,050 head.
While the fall in suckler cow numbers was highest in strong dairy counties, such as Tipperary (-13,780) and Cork (-10,752), mostly down to the abolition of quotas and a switch from sucklers to dairy, suckler cow numbers in Galway fell by 12,035 and in Mayo they fell by 9,607 head.
Suckler cow numbers were also back 7,430 head in Roscommon, almost 4,000 head in Sligo and by 2,760 in Leitrim.
Sheep numbers
Interestingly, sheep numbers have increased in the counties where farmer numbers have fallen.
Sheep census figures from the Department of Agriculture for 2016 and 2022 show that sheep numbers increased by 22,980 head in Mayo, by 10,420 head in Sligo and by 9,858 in Kerry.
The increase in sheep numbers in these counties is down to a combination of factors.
These include farmers increasing numbers or getting in to sheep due to active farmer requirements in farming commonage, a switch from suckler or beef production to sheep and slightly higher support payments in sheep schemes.
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