Census Of Agriculture Main Results , June 2000

Census of Agriculture Main Results, June 2000

Publication

• General Details (PDF 64KB)
• Commentary on Results (PDF 146KB)
• Tables 1 - 15 (PDF 123KB)
• Tables 16 - 26 (PDF 67KB)
• Tables 27 - 34 (PDF 53KB)
• Tables 35 - 46 (PDF 71KB)
• Appendices (PDF 46KB)

Press Release  

CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE

Census of Agriculture Main Results, June 2000

The main results of the 2000 Census of Agriculture have been published today, 20 December 2002. The Census was carried out in June 2000 and covered all farms with at least 1 hectare of land farmed.

This is the first full Census of Agriculture since June 1991. The Census results contain updated structural information on a wide range of agricultural topics, including: area farmed; area under various types of crops; numbers of livestock and poultry; the farm workforce; ownership and use of farm machinery; and the extent of involvement in non-agricultural activities (such as tourism, forestry etc.).

The report contains over 40 tables, with many of the results broken down by area farmed, economic size of farm and main type of agricultural activity. Regional and county breakdowns are also provided. The report also includes statistics on the age distribution of farmers and on the volume of farm labour input.

Some of the findings emerging from the Census are:

• There were 141,527 active farms in June 2000, compared to 170,578 in 1991. This was a fall of some 17% in the number of farms. The average size of farm increased from 26.0 hectares in 1991 to 31.4 hectares in 2000.
• The total number of cattle in June 2000 was 7.037 million. Specialist beef production was the most common type of farming, accounting for just over half of all farms.
• There were 26,292 specialist dairy farms in June 2000; and the next most important type of farming was mixed grazing livestock, accounting for 20,279 farms.
• There were 1,177,452 dairy cows in June 2000 and 1,186,989 other cows. The corresponding figures in 1991 were 1,330,807 dairy cows and 817,302 other cows.
• The average size of dairy herd increased from 27.1 dairy cows in 1991 to 37.0 in 2000.
• The number of sheep was 7.555 million in June 2000, which was some 15% below the 1991 figure of 8.888 million.
• There were 257,948 family and regular non-family workers engaged in farming in 2000; a drop of 17.5% on the 1991 figure of 312,729.
  
• In 1991, 45.1% of farmers were aged 55 or over; this age category represented 39.5% of farmers in 2000.
• In 1991, almost three-quarters (73.4%) of farmers described farmwork as their sole occupation; this had fallen to 55.7% in 2000.

The Census of Agriculture - Main Results, June 2000 publication can be purchased from: Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork or Government Publications Sales Office , Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. Price €20.00

20th December 2002

For further details, you can contact Information Section by e-mail information@cso.ie.