Just 20% of farm families rely on ag for income

With some farming sectors doing well, the survey determined that 42% of farms were viable in 2021, the highest proportion in the last decade, up from 35% in 2020.

Wed, 09 Nov, 2022 - 09:52

Stephen Cadogan

Just 20% of farm families rely fully on their farm as their only source of income, according to the Teagasc National Farm Survey for 2021.

The survey results indicated 80% of farm households (the farmer and/or spouse) had an off-farm job and/or other income from pensions or social assistance.

With unemployment at only 4.3%, the lowest since 2005, there are off-farm opportunities. The survey indicated that up to 34% of farm holders have off-farm employment, while 54% of farm holders and/or their spouses have off-farm employment.

In addition, in 2021, Irish farms received an average of €15,033 in Exchequer and EU payments to assist in the viability of their farms.

With some farming sectors doing well, the survey determined that 42% of farms were viable in 2021, the highest proportion in the last decade, up from 35% in 2020.

A farm is defined as viable if family labour is remunerated at greater than or equal to the minimum wage, and there is sufficient income to provide an additional 5% return on non-land based assets employed on the farm.

A further 31% of farms were considered economically sustainable, due to the presence of an off-farm income source, and 27% were regarded as vulnerable.

There is a strong correlation between viability and whether the farming is full-time or part-time. Based on their workload, only about one third of farms are now considered full-time farms by Teagasc.

About 90% of dairy farms are considered full-time, less than 20% of beef and sheep farms are considered full-time.

Full-time farms are often the larger farms, averaging 74 hectares, compared to 30 hectares for part-time farms.

These statistics from the Department indicate an evolving sector, as it faces into a new CAP period with radically altered supports for farmers over the next five years.

The huge majority are still “family farms” (operated as family-based enterprises), making up over 96% of the 135,037 farm holdings in Ireland, according to the Central Statistics Office's Census of Agriculture in 2020.

The remainder, just under 4%, are classed by the CSO as "commercial farms" (registered as companies, which paid all their workers as employees, or farms connected with institutions). Some commercial farms, while registered as companies, may still operate as family farms.

The number of those whose sole or major occupation is farm work increased by 2.5% from 2000 to 2020, according to a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine calculation.

This calculation is based on the Census of Agriculture. From 2000 to 2020, family farm holders indicating farming as their sole occupation or major occupation changed from 98,366 to 96,153, a drop of 2,213, or 2.2%. Those indicating farm work as a subsidiary occupation dropped by 8,913, or 21%, over the 20-year period.

Over the same period, family farms dropped by 11,126, or 7.9%. But non-family farms increased from 185 in 2000 to 4,821 farms in 2020 (resulting in the total number of farm holdings dropping by 6,490 or 4.6%, from 141,527 to 135,037).

"If one person from each non-family farm holdings is included, then the number of those whose sole or major occupation is farm work would be 100,974 in 2020, which is 2,423 higher (or 2.5%) than in 2000", according to the DAFM.

The 2020 Census of Agriculture breakdown for family farms is sole occupation (51%); major occupation (20%); subsidiary occupation (25%). The remainder are non-family farms (4%).

Employment in the overall agri-food sector has also grown, by 6,400, to 170,400 people, from 2019 to 2021. This represents 7.1% of the total Irish workforce (but 14.2% in the border region, and over 12% in the south-east).

Included were 107,000 employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2021 (up 4,500); 49,650 in the manufacturing of food products (up 850); 7,750 in the manufacturing of beverages (up 1,000); and about 6,000 in the wood and wood-processing sector.

These figures come from the Labour Force Survey, based on the main employment a person reports. If a part-time farmer reports their off-farm job as their main employment, they are recorded as working in primary agriculture.