Teagasc National Farm Survey 2018 Sustainability Report

Cathal Buckley and Trevor Donnellan, Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department, Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway.

Download Publication (PDF)

Agricultural systems are complex and tend to have multiple goals and wide-reaching effects, which must be considered holistically. To measure and track the diverse elements of Irish farm systems, this report considers Irish agricultural production (and its component farm systems) in terms of its economic, environmental and social sustainability. Additionally, it evaluates Irish farmers’ adoption of innovations, which will be central in driving the sector towards increased sustainability as well as productivity.

Deriving a sustainability indicator set is difficult, as it requires detailed, accurate and consistent farm-level measurements and data across a wide range of physical, socioeconomic and demographic farm attributes. The Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) provides such a dataset.

The Sustainability of Irish Agriculture webinar took place on Tuesday, 23rd June which provided an overview of the latest sustainability assessment for Irish agriculture, covering Economic, Social and Environmental Metrics. View the presentation here: 2018 Sustainability Report Presentation