National Farm Survey 2020

Emma Dillon, Trevor Donnellan, Brian Moran and John Lennon, Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department, Rural Economy Development Programme, Teagasc.

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The results of the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) can be decomposed in various ways. One of the most common ways in which the results are presented is on a system basis. By system, the NFS farms are categorised into one of six farm types: Dairy, Cattle Rearing, Cattle Other, Sheep, Tillage and Mixed Livestock. Given that individual farms typically have more than one farm enterprise, a rigorous basis for categorising farms into each systemis required.

The method of classifying farms into farming systems, is based on the EU farm typology as set out in Commission Decision 78/463 and its subsequent amendments. The approach is utilised by all members of the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). The methodology assigns a standard output (SO) to each type of animal and each hectare of crop on the farm. Farms are then classified into groups, according to the proportion of total SO which comes from each enterprise. System titles refer to the dominant enterprise in each group.

Teagasc National Farm Survey 2020 Results Interactive Presentation