Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012
504. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of full time, part time and commercial farmers currently operating here; the extent to which the numbers in each category have fluctuated over the past ten years to date in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56252/12]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office’s Census of Agriculture 2010, released earlier this month, gives the most up-to-date picture in this regard as it classifies farmholders by whether farming is their Sole Occupation, a Major Occupation or Subsidiary Occupation. The table below shows this data in comparison to the previous (2000) Census of Agriculture and the intervening CSO National Farm Surveys.
|
2000 |
2003 |
2005 |
2007 |
2010 |
||
|
Census of Agriculture |
CSO Farm Structures Survey |
CSO Farm Structures Survey |
CSO Farm Structures Survey |
Census of Agriculture |
Change 2000 to 2010 |
|
|
Sole Occupation |
78,723 |
76,800 |
73,500 |
66,300 |
75,223 |
-4.45% |
|
% of total |
56% |
58% |
56% |
52% |
54% |
|
|
Major Occupation |
19,643 |
18,600 |
19,700 |
22,400 |
20,258 |
3.13% |
|
% of total |
14% |
14% |
15% |
18% |
15% |
|
|
Subsidiary Occupation |
42,976 |
36,800 |
37,200 |
37,700 |
44,075 |
2.56% |
|
% of total |
30% |
28% |
29% |
30% |
32% |
|
|
All Family Farms |
141,342 |
132,200 |
130,400 |
126,400 |
139,556 |
-1.26% |
