The average farm size in Ireland has increased by over 20% in the past decade. A Teagasc conference on rural development in Tullamore was told that the average farm has increased by 15 acres since 1993 to 84 acres.
JIm Frawley of Teagasc said that the increase in part-time farming has made a major contribution to the income base of rural areas. It is estimated that over €1bn a year is earned by farmers and their spouses from off-farm employment. Almost 30% of farmers with jobs elsewhere are employed in the construction industry.
Mr Frawley said that a striking feature in recent years was the dramatic reduction in input from spouses to the day to day running of the farm. During the 1990s, a total of 24,000 spouses had disengaged from farming - a drop of 32%. There was also a significant decline in the contribution of other family members to the running of farms.
Mr Frawley said that it is clear that farming is becoming less family orientated and more of a one-person operation. He also said that the annual drop of 2% in the number of farms in the 1990s was lower than the exodus from farming in the previous decade.
Another Teagasc speaker, Patrick Commins said that, while the recent record growth in employment was shared by all regions, the gains in rural areas were much weaker than in urban centres.
Cathal Cown of the Teagasc Food Centre said that the market for organic food in Ireland is expected to more than treble over the next four years.
