A sharp decline in farming is confirmed by newly-published figures showing there were some 2,700 fewer farms in the State each year between 1991 and 2005. Ruadhán Mac Cormaicreports.
According to the findings of the most recent farm structure surveys released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday, the number of farms decreased by 37,900 in that period, from 170,600 to 132,700.
The figures, presenting a picture of great change in farming in Ireland over a decade and a half, are based on surveys conducted in June 2003 and June 2005. These are the latest in a series conducted across the European Union every two to three years.
The largest decreases since 1991 were recorded in the Border region, where there was a fall of 8,300, and the west, where there were 7,700 fewer farms in 2005.
As overall numbers have fallen, the Republic's farms have grown in size, from an average of 26 hectares in 1991 to 31.8 hectares in 2005. The trend is seen across the country, though the south-east region had the largest average farm size of 41.4 hectares in 2005. The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) said that while some structural improvement was taking place, the average size of 32 hectares was too small to provide farmers with an adequate income.
"A key policy priority for IFA is to build farm production capacity through increased scale and less fragmentation," IFA president Padraig Walshe said
A breakdown of farms by type shows that specialist beef production - accounting for more than half of the total in 2005 - remains the dominant category, with their numbers holding steady since the early 1990s, in spite of the overall decline.
Almost all of the reduction in farm numbers is accounted for by the decline of specialist dairying and mixed grazing livestock farms.
The CSO data indicates that the age profile of farmers continues to rise. In general, there are more holders aged 55 or over, while in the west there are over five times as many farmers aged 65 or over as there are aged less than 35 years.
Farm work is increasing becoming a part-time pursuit.