Minister O’Cuiv Launches new Farming Atlas

A new book, Irish Farming at the Millennium: A Census Atlas, which explores changes that affected Irish farming during the 1990s, is being launched by Minister Eamonn O’Cuiv at NUI Maynooth this evening, Wednesday, 10 December.

‘Irish Farming at the Millennium: A Census Atlas’ provides a comprehensive assessment of the impacts that the 1992 reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy had on the structure of Irish farms and the distribution of farming systems. The publication considers the implications of these developments for the future of Irish family farms. Using data from the year 2000 Census of Agriculture, this book provides a unique perspective on Irish farming at the turn of the century.

Co-author of the book, Professor Jim Walsh, Deputy President of NUI Maynooth, said that this new book funded by Teagasc explores a wide range of themes. It includes a series of almost 100 maps covering the geography of topics such as farm size, land leasing, fragmented farms, sole occupation farmers and those combining farming with another job, mechanisation, use of agricultural contractors, distributions of crops, milk quotas, specialist farming enterprises, REPS, organic farms and the Early Retirement Scheme.

Research undertaken at the Geography Department in NUI Maynooth and Teagasc’ Rural Economy Research Centre, combined year 2000 data with similar information for 1991, to map the geographical incidence of the changes that occurred between the 1992 and 2000 reforms of the CAP. This period of significant change in agricultural policy coincided with the unprecedented economic growth associated with the Celtic Tiger period, which impacted throughout most of rural Ireland. The text, tables, charts and maps provide a comprehensive interpretation of the complexity of this transitional phase for farmers, farm families and the rural landscape. It will become the standard baseline study for future research into farming, agriculture and rural issues in the twenty-first century.

The primary author, Dr Caroline Crowley, now in the Geography Department at UCC, received support under the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship scheme to undertake the research at the Geography Department in NUI Maynooth. Dr. Crowley said the book highlights changes in farm structure including farm size and business scale, farm fragmentation and land leasing, sole occupation farmers and those combining farming with another job. Data were available to assess the provision of public goods by farmers through the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, the diversification of farm enterprises into areas such as tourism, and the growing practice of farmers and their spouses supplementing farm incomes with off-farm jobs. The results highlight the divergent development trajectories of different farm groups in Ireland.

Co-author, David Meredith of Teagasc’ Rural Economy Research Centre, stated that whilst the research findings highlight the complexity associated with contemporary agriculture, which is increasingly divided between farmers focused on the development of commercial-scale enterprises and those engaged in the delivery of public goods, the analysis points to clear geographic concentration of the former in the south and east of Ireland whilst the latter are largely found in upland areas and the BMW region. This knowledge supports the development of targeted policy measures and services to farmers and farm families.

Maps are used to show the distribution of the 40,500 farmers participating in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme in 2003, as well as the almost 1,600 organic farms, the 7,000 diversified farms, and the 63,000 farmers with other jobs from the most recent Census of Agriculture in 2000.

There were fewer than 133,000 farms in the State in 2005, according to the Central Statistics Office. Whilst this represents a decline of 22% on the 1991 figure, the trend of growth in farm sizes continued with the average farm size 22% larger at 31.8 hectares. The dairy sector experienced the largest decline between 1991 and 2005 with a halving of the number of dairy farmers. In comparison, the number of tillage and beef cattle farmers fell at a much lower rate of less than 5% over the same period. The research highlighted the increasing concentration of specialist dairy and tillage farms in the south and east of Ireland.

Data collected for the first time in the Agricultural Census highlights how farmers have adapted by reducing costs and increasing scale efficiencies including the renting of land and use of contractors for specialist activities. This is particularly evident in the south and east of Ireland. The adoption of such strategies reflects a development of the Irish model of agriculture that facilitates enlargement of farm enterprises without the upfront costs associated with the purchase of land and specialist machinery.

Just 8% of Irish farmers are 35 years or younger while over one quarter are 65 years of age or older. The aging profile of farmers poses challenges to the further development and adoption of innovative farming practices and technologies that are important to the sustainable development of agriculture in Ireland.

Authors: Dr. Caroline Crowley, Prof. Jim Walsh and David Meredith
Published by: NIRSA, NUI Maynooth
Funded by: Teagasc

For further information contact:
Dr. Caroline Crowley (087) 6101510, caroline.crowley@ucc.ie
Professor Jim Walsh, (087 8337736), jim.walsh@nuim.ie
David Meredith, (087 9124134) david.meredith@teagasc.ie