The 2020 farm census in Ireland was due to take place on 1 June, but this has been deferred now as a result of the coronavirus.

There will be questions on farm management, labour, stock and land use in the census.

All farmers will be asked questions on the following:

Farm management and diversification

This year’s census will ask farmers about the manager of the farm and the training that manager received.

There will also be questions about the farm safety plan and succession plan for the future of the farm, as well as any diversification activities.

Labour input

In terms of the labour on farms, there will be questions on the gender and age of labour units, plus the amount of work carried out on the farm.

This will include details of the farm owner, their spouse or partner, the manager, the family labour force and the non-family labour force.

Livestock and poultry

Farmers will be asked questions on the livestock on the farm. This will include cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and other livestock.

Land use

There will be questions on land use on every farm in Ireland in the census. This will include the area farmed, area owned, area rented in, area rented out, woodland and other land.

Questions on grassland will also appear on the census questionnaire, including whether land is temporary grassland or permanent, whether it’s for silage or hay and the amount of rough grazing land.

Slurry storage

Some 10,000 farmers will be asked about slurry storage on their farms. This will be asked in the form of a second questionnaire on 'animal housing and manure management'.

The European Commission is also conducting an EU-wide farm census this year, with an estimated 10.5m farmers across Europe receiving a similar questionnaire on slurry storage.

Deferred

The Irish census was due to take place on 1 June 2020. However, as a result of the coronavirus, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has decided to defer the collection of it.

A new date to collect the census has not been set yet, but alternative dates and options are currently being assessed.

A spokesperson for the CSO said: “The CSO will notify data users and the farming community as soon as a new date for collection of the census of agriculture has been agreed.”

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