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Below are the results of a sample survey that represented farms that were above at least one of the physical farm holding thresholds as described in Annex 2 of the integrated farm statistics Regulation (EU) No. 2018/1091. See background notes for more details.
It should also be noted that group-holdings have been included in the 2020 Censuses of Agriculture results (unlike previous censuses). There is also an increased number of commercial entitities included in these results. These types of farm holdings are categorised as non-family farms for comparability with other EU member states leading to an increase in non-family labour in the 2020 results.
One annual work unit is 1,800 hours or more of labour input per person per annum.
| Table 2.1 Characteristics of holder, 2020 | ||||||||
| Characteristics of Holder | Border | West | Mid-West | South-East | South-West | Mid-East & Dublin | Midlands | State |
| Total Number of Farm Holders | 25,776 | 29,854 | 18,669 | 11,628 | 20,925 | 11,323 | 12,041 | 130,216 |
| Gender | ||||||||
| Males | 22,523 | 25,638 | 16,332 | 10,187 | 18,084 | 9,874 | 10,678 | 113,316 |
| Females | 3,253 | 4,216 | 2,337 | 1,441 | 2,841 | 1,449 | 1,363 | 16,900 |
| Age | ||||||||
| < 35 | 2,005 | 1,847 | 1,266 | 951 | 1,444 | 793 | 891 | 9,197 |
| 35 – 44 | 3,691 | 3,656 | 2,695 | 1,679 | 3,239 | 1,413 | 1,741 | 18,114 |
| 45 – 54 | 5,599 | 5,878 | 4,324 | 2,675 | 4,971 | 2,400 | 2,641 | 28,488 |
| 55 – 64 | 5,985 | 7,320 | 4,723 | 2,875 | 5,372 | 2,814 | 2,937 | 32,026 |
| 65 + | 8,496 | 11,153 | 5,661 | 3,448 | 5,899 | 3,903 | 3,831 | 42,391 |
| Annual Work Units | ||||||||
| 0 – 0.25 | 3,668 | 4,111 | 2,261 | 1,478 | 2,552 | 1,643 | 1,735 | 17,448 |
| 0.25 – 0.50 | 3,035 | 3,683 | 2,007 | 1,236 | 2,518 | 1,253 | 1,314 | 15,046 |
| 0.50 – 0.75 | 5,335 | 7,351 | 3,376 | 2,157 | 3,516 | 2,020 | 2,638 | 26,393 |
| 0.75 – 1.00 | 3,144 | 3,821 | 1,965 | 1,209 | 1,978 | 1,463 | 1,423 | 15,003 |
| 1 | 10,594 | 10,888 | 9,060 | 5,548 | 10,361 | 4,944 | 4,931 | 56,326 |
| Significance of Farmwork | ||||||||
| Sole Occupation | 13,201 | 15,055 | 10,438 | 6,801 | 10,864 | 6,821 | 6,276 | 69,456 |
| Major Occupation | 4,882 | 6,131 | 3,339 | 2,532 | 4,975 | 2,150 | 2,688 | 26,697 |
| Subsidiary | 7,693 | 8,668 | 4,892 | 2,295 | 5,086 | 2,352 | 3,077 | 34,063 |
| X-axis label | Sole Occupation | Major Occupation | Subsidiary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-East & Dublin | 6821 | 2150 | 2352 |
| South-East | 6801 | 2532 | 2295 |
| Mid-West | 10438 | 3339 | 4892 |
| Midlands | 6276 | 2688 | 3077 |
| South-West | 10864 | 4975 | 5086 |
| Border | 13201 | 4882 | 7693 |
| West | 15055 | 6131 | 8668 |
More than half (53.3%) of farm holders stated that farming was their sole occupation while over one quarter (26.2%) regarded it as a subsidiary occupation.
Mid-East and Dublin (60.2%), South-East (58.5%) and Mid-West (55.9%) regions had a larger proportion of farm holders where farming was the sole occupation compared to other regions. All had over 55% of holders that were the sole holder in 2020.
The Border and West regions had approximately 50% of farm holders farming as a sole occupation in 2020. In the West, 20.5% of holders farmed as a major occupation and 29.0% farmed as a subsidiary occupation. In the Border, 18.9% farmed as a major occupation and 29.8% farmed as a subsidiary occupation.
The South-West and Midlands regions had close to 52% of farm holders farming as a sole occupation in 2020. Just below 24% of the farm holders in the South-West farmed as a major occupation and just above 24% farmed as a subsidiary occupation. In the Midlands, approximately 22% of farm holders were farming as a major occupation in 2020 and just below 26% were farming as a subsidiary occupation.
| X-axis label | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| South-West | 32903 | 14338 |
| South-East | 19424 | 7848 |
| Mid-West | 28926 | 10798 |
| West | 45062 | 16271 |
| Mid-East & Dublin | 18997 | 6819 |
| Midlands | 19599 | 6892 |
| Border | 38556 | 12147 |
| X-axis label | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| South-West | 20551 | 6208 |
| South-East | 12394 | 3318 |
| Mid-West | 18096 | 4728 |
| West | 25938 | 6584 |
| Mid-East & Dublin | 11663 | 2899 |
| Midlands | 11745 | 2572 |
| Border | 22915 | 4693 |
The regional distribution across gender was similar for persons and Annual Work Units (AWUs) in 2020. The South-West region had the largest proportion of female persons working on farm holdings and had the largest female contribution to AWUs of all regions.
| X-axis label | % Female Workers | % AWU Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Border | 24 | 17 |
| West | 26.5 | 20.2 |
| Mid-West | 27.2 | 20.7 |
| South-East | 28.8 | 21.1 |
| South-West | 30.4 | 23.2 |
| Mid-East & Dublin | 26.4 | 19.9 |
| Midlands | 26 | 18 |
| X-axis label | Border | South-West | West | Mid-West | Midlands | Mid-East & Dublin | South-East |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farms with Succession Plan in Place | 40.9 | 44.8 | 46.8 | 48.5 | 48.7 | 49 | 49.5 |
Less than half (46.1%) of farm holders had a succession plan in place and 98.2% of these had named a family member as the successor.
Four regions had similar proportions of farm holdings with a succession plan in place in 2020. The South-East (49.5%), Mid-East and Dublin (49.0%), Midlands (48.7%) and Mid-West (48.5%) regions proportions varied between 48.5% and 49.5%.
The Border region had the lowest proportion of farm holdings with a succession plan in place in 2020 with 40.9%.
The South-West region had the next lowest proportion with 44.8%, followed by the West region with 46.8%.
| Table 2.4 Number of farms by succession plan, 2020 | |||||||
| Border | West | Mid-West | South-East | South-West | Mid-East & Dublin | Midland | |
| Succession Plan in Place | 10,545 | 13,958 | 9,050 | 5,756 | 9,368 | 5,548 | 5,860 |
| % | 40.9 | 46.8 | 48.5 | 49.5 | 44.8 | 49 | 48.7 |
| Gender of Successor | |||||||
| Males | 8,816 | 11,396 | 7,383 | 4,699 | 7,468 | 4,422 | 4,840 |
| Females | 1,447 | 2,292 | 1,514 | 943 | 1,640 | 970 | 953 |
| Shared | 282 | 270 | 153 | 114 | 260 | 156 | 67 |
| Relationship of Successor | |||||||
| Family | 10,368 | 13,736 | 8,933 | 5,653 | 9,149 | 5,455 | 5,732 |
| Non-Family | 177 | 222 | 117 | 103 | 219 | 93 | 128 |
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