Farmers urged to complete Census questionnaire issued next week

ALL farmers in the country will receive a questionnaire and an information booklet in the post next week that will require their full attention.

The documentation will relate to the 2010 Census of Agriculture which will be conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on June 1 and co-ordinated from its Cork office.

The questionnaire is to be completed and returned to the CSO by June 8 in a free-post pre-addressed envelope which will be provided for this purpose.

Summer is always a busy period for farmers, but they are being urged to set aside time to read the booklet and carefully complete the questionnaire which will be issued to them in the week preceding the June 1 reference date.

The answers they provide to those questions will give a detailed snapshot of agricultural activity in Ireland from over 140,000 farm holdings.

That data will be crucial to the Government and the European Commission as they formulate and monitor agricultural policy.

Census statistics are also used by farming associations, economic researchers and even individual agricultural producers.

The CSO accepts that its surveys can impose a burden on respondents and, accordingly, it is committed to reducing this as much as possible.

But there is a statutory obligation upon all agricultural producers to complete their census questionnaire.

It will be sent to every agricultural holding in the state where the area used for farming is at least one hectare.

In addition, farms with less than one hectare will also be included in the census if they are engaged in intensive production of, for example, pigs or poultry.

Ireland’s first Census of Agriculture was conducted in 1847 and then annually until 1953. They were then conducted every five years between 1960 and 1980, and every 10 years or so after that. The last one was in the year 2000.

The 2010 survey will be the first to use a combination of administrative records and completed paper questionnaires.

All information returned on questionnaires will be treated as strictly confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only. This is guaranteed by both Irish and European Union law.

The census is the largest agriculture project undertaken by the CSO. It is aptly sub-titled Time to Take Stock, and relies on the goodwill of farmers for its completion and success.