Close to 40% of sheep farming households considered vulnerable last year
A significant fall in family farm income in 2023 pushed more sheep farming households into a position of vulnerability, the recently published National Farm Survey (NFS) Sustainability Report 2023 has revealed.
Published by the Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department at Teagasc, the report illustrates the economic, environmental, social and innovation indicators for the primary farming systems being operated in Ireland.
In terms of the sustainability indicators of sheep farms in 2023, the NFS Sustainability Report 2023 shows that the average family farm income per hectare on sheep farms was €251 in 2023, with a wide degree of variation existing between the top, average and bottom sub-groups in terms of income. The top performing cohort achieved an average of €522 per hectare, whereas the bottom grouping achieved an average income of minus €18 per hectare.
As a result and given the economic constraints, over 38% of all sheep farm households were considered vulnerable in 2023, with this being consistent across all three cohorts (top, middle and bottom) when ranked on economic performance. For the purposes of this measurement, the NFS classifies vulnerability as when the farm business is not economically viable and the farmer or farmer’s spouse has no off-farm employment income source.
The risk of isolation was also examined, basing this measurement of whether the farmer is living alone or not. On average, 24% of all specialist sheep farms were classified as being at risk of isolation, and this was significantly higher among the middle and bottom performing cohorts of sheep farms at 29-30%.
Agricultural education
The survey also measured whether or not the farmer had received any formal agricultural training at any level – an important factor in farm succession, as well as having a role in influencing wider farm management decisions that can affect other dimensions of farm sustainability (e.g. willingness to adopt new technologies). The NFS Sustainability Report 2023 shows that 69% of sheep farmers had received formal agricultural education, with in being higher among the top and middle third of farms when ranked by economic performance.
Age profile
The age profile of sheep farmers was also highlighted through the NFS Sustainability Report 2023. Farm households are defined as having a high age profile if the farmer is aged over 60, and there are no members of the farm household younger than 45. This indicator shows whether the farm household is likely to be demographically viable. The proportion of all specialist sheep farms with a high age profile was 39%. The bottom performing group had the highest age profile on average.
Hours worked
The number of hours worked by the farmer on the farm – excluding time spent in off-farm employment – was also reported upon. Sheep farmers had an average of 1,560 hours worked on farm per year in 2023, or 29.7 hours a week. The top performing cohort tend to work the most hours on farm at 1,732, compared to 1,471 and 1,406 hours for the middle and bottom group, respectively.
Hours worked, both on and off the farm, were also recorded. On average, in 2023, sheep farmers had 2,276 hours worked on and off-farm work or approximately 43.8 hours per week. The total hours worked was lower across the bottom cohort by economic performance.
More information
The above was adapted for use on Teagasc Daily from the Teagasc National Farm Survey Sustainability Report 2023, which was authored by Cathal Buckley and Trevor Donnellan from the Teagasc Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department.
Also read: Sustainability performance of Irish farms in 2023 revealed