Experts will analyse family farm decline

Teagasc are organising an academic conference that will examine the past, present and future of the family farm in Ireland, as one of the events to mark the UN Food and Agriculture ‘Year of the Family Farm’.

At the time of the 1971 population census, 25% of all households in Ireland were headed up by a farmer; in 2011, roughly 6% were.

The non-farm population has substantially increased, and the ‘farm households’ statistical category has fallen from 179,000 to 96,000.

Speaking recently on the challenges facing family farms and their importance to rural communities, Professor Gerry Boyle, director of Teagasc, said: “Family farms in Ireland are confronting a host of challenges and changes arising from globalisation of food supply chains, national and international policy developments and climate change.

“These households have proven over time to be resilient in the face of substantial changes to farming.

“There are, however, a range of other, non-economic, developments that will affect the future of family farms. We need to understand how family farms have accommodated change in the past, so as to best design supports for them into the future.”

The conference, which is being held at Airfield Farm in Dublin next Thursday, June 5, brings together leading academics from a number of disciplines, including geographers, historians, sociologists and economists, to assess and evaluate the family farm in Ireland. In particular, they will explore how the idea of the family farm became central to the identity of the State and consider the implications of contemporary developments for family farms.

The conference is targeted at those interested in understanding more about Ireland’s social history, rural society, and how this may evolve, given contemporary developments affecting farm families.

Further Teagasc events and initiatives during 2014 to mark the UN Food and Agriculture ‘Year of the Family Farm’, include a Teagasc and IFA national event planned for November 4.