Number of active farms falls by 2,600 a year

FARMERS are getting older and the number of active farms is decreasing by more than 2,600 each year, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Its 2007 farm structure surveys, published yesterday, show there were 128,200 active farms in June 2007, compared to 141,500 in June 2000. This represents a 9.4% fall. The average size of farm increased from 31.4 hectares, in 2000, to 32.3 hectares, in 2007.

Over the same period, the number of farmers aged 55 and over rose from 40% to just over 50%.