Close to 35m hours of unpaid work valued at €527m were provided by family members on the 88,000 farms that took part in the National Farm Survey (NFS).

The startling figures, which do not include the unpaid labour provided by the main farm operator, were compiled from the NFS with additional information supplied by Teagasc’s Rural Economy Research Centre. The data helps to demonstrate the full contribution of the farm family to the Irish economy.

The total value of the unpaid work provided on farms by family members is calculated by costing the 35m hours at the minimum wage rate of €14.95/hour.

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The Teagasc data shows that around 24% of the unpaid labour on dairy farms is provided by family members.

Spousal support

Farmers’ spouses and other family members accounted for 867 hours of unpaid work on average on dairy farms. The total amount of such labour provided on dairy farms was put at 3,579 hours on average, with 2,712 hours supplied by the farmer.

When the average figure for unpaid family labour is applied to the 15,000 dairy farms included in the NFS, the total hours provided across the sector comes to 13m, which is valued at €194m.

Family members on cattle-rearing or suckler farms provide 246 unpaid hours on average per farm, or 14.5% of the total average labour requirement of 1,706 hours.

Suckler farms

When the average family labour input is extrapolated across the 18,500 suckler farms in the NFS, the total number of hours provided by family members comes to almost 4.5m hours. The value of this labour, costed at the minimum wage, is €68m. Using the same methodology, the total number of unpaid labour hours provided by family members on the 32,500 ‘cattle, other’ farms in the NFS was around 10.5m, which was valued at €158m.

The data indicates that 17% of the unpaid labour on the 14,000 sheep farms included in the NFS is provided by family members. This comes to 366 hours per farm per year on average or close to 5m hours across the sector. This is valued at €77m.

Tillage farms

Family members provided 16% of the unpaid labour on the 6,150 tillage farms included in the NFS. This amounted to almost 325 hours per farm per year on average or around 2m hours across the sector. This is valued at €30m when costed at the minimum wage rate.

When calculated at a weighted average rate, based on the differing number of units involved in the various enterprises, family members provided 421 hours per farm per year or eight hours a week of unpaid labour on average on Irish farms. This equated to 19% of all unpaid labour on farms.

Interestingly, 38% of the family labour on ‘cattle, other’ farms was provided by farmers’ spouses. The corresponding figure for the dairy sector was 30%, with the figure being 17% for suckler farms and 22% on both tillage and sheep farms.