Nearly 70% of young farmers own smartphone
The Irish Examiner/ ICMSA survey of farming attitudes found that, despite problems with the provision of internet to rural areas, seven out of 10 farmers now have access to broadband, with a third owning a smartphone.
More than 70% own a laptop, while 14% own an iPad/tablet or a console like the Xbox, Playstation, or Wii.
Among younger farmers, the figures are even higher. 69% of farmers under 35 own a smartphone, but this figure drops to 14% for those aged 55 to 64, and to 5% for those farmers over the age of 65.
About 92% of farmers under the age of 35 have broadband, with 93% having a laptop and 39% owning an iPad/tablet.
Even among older farmers, web access is quite high with 68% of those aged 55 to 64 saying they had broadband. This falls to 41% for those over 65.
Personal computer ownership is also relatively high among older farmers, with 67% of those aged 55 to 64 and 39% of farmers over the age of 65 owning a laptop.
However, smartphone, laptop and iPad/tablet ownership was markedly higher among female farmers — 10% higher in virtually all cases.
The figures indicate that, despite living in rural and sometimes isolated locations, farmers in the main are as committed to using newer technology as the rest of the country.
The Eircom Household Sentiment Survey, released earlier this month, found that 53% of the population over the age of 16 (1.7m people) now own a smartphone — up from 39% 12 months ago.
