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Census of Agriculture 2020 - Preliminary Results

Demographic Profile of Farm Holders

In this section, the age and gender of farm holders in 2020 is compared with the previous Censuses of Agiculture. It should be noted that in 1991, 2000 and 2010, demographic details were not recorded for holders of commercial enterprises on the Census of Agriculture. For 2020, in the case of commercial enterprises, the demographic details of the farm manager are used - see background notes and definitions for more information. 

Open in Excel:
X-axis labelFemaleMale
19919.790.3
200010.789.3
201012.487.6
202013.486.6
  • Over the ten-year period from 2010 to 2020, there was a 1.0% increase in the percentage share of female farm holders. In 2020, there was just over 18,000 female farm holders (or 13.4%) compared to 17,345 (or 12.4%) in 2010.
  • Between 1991 and 2020, the percentage share of male farm holders reduced from 90.3% to 86.6%.
Table 3.1 Gender and age of the farm holder (1991 – 2020)

X-axis label< 3535 - 4445 - 5455 - 6465 +
19912244733752370133803038651
20001838230780363322780528043
2010868324562346143505836639
2020933818701296163324744135
  • The age profile of farm holders has changed over the last 30 years, and there are now fewer farm holders under the age of 45 and considerably more aged 65 or over.
  • In 2020, almost one third of all farm holders were aged 65 or over compared to just above one fifth in 1991.
  • In 1991, 33.1% of farm holders were under the age of 45, whereas in 2020 this age group represented 20.8% of all farm holders. 
  • The proportion of farm holders under 35 has been falling consistently since 1991 but there was a slight increase in the proportion in this youngest age category between 2010 and 2020, from 6.2% to 6.9%. 
Table 3.2 Distribution of farm holders by age and gender, 2010 and 2020

X-axis labelFemaleMale
< 3578.61.9
35 - 441.1-26.3
45 - 54-9.4-15.1
55 - 64-6.3-5
65 +13.821.8
  • The number of male farm holders fell by 5,275 between 2010 and 2020. This comprised of a decrease of 12,057 in the age groups from 35 to 64, balanced by an increase of 6,628 for those aged 65 or over. 
  • There was also a small increase of 154 in the number of male farm holders aged under 35. 
  • The number of female farm holders increased by 756 between 2010 and 2020. The number aged under 35 increased by 501, and the number aged 65 or over increased by 868. 
  • The number of female farm holders fell in the age groups between 45 and 64 years. 
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Map 3.1 Percentage of female holders by county, 2020
  • The percentage of female farm holders varied from 10.4% in Monaghan to 16.0% in Mayo.
  • There were seven counties where over 14% of the farm holders were female, these include; Mayo, Leitrim, Waterford, Sligo, Kerry, Wicklow and Cork.
  • There were seven counties where less than 12% of the farm holders were female, these include; Monaghan, Kilkenny, Cavan, Laois, Westmeath, Offaly and Carlow.
Table 3.3: Gender of the holder by region and county, 2020

X-axis labelFemaleMale
Less than 10ha18.896071606166181.1039283938339
10 - 20ha14.903472402176785.0965275978233
20 - 30ha12.750597956077487.2494020439226
30 - 50ha10.699423231364589.3005767686355
50 - 100ha8.9836430850255791.0163569149744
100ha +9.2425531914893690.7574468085106
  • The percentage of male farm holders was greater for the larger farm sizes when compared to smaller farm sizes in 2020; approximately 91% of the farm holders for farms above 50 hectares were male. Almost 20% of farm holders on farms less than 10 hectares were female. 
  • The percentage of male farm holders was lower for all other smaller size classes; 89.3% for 30 – 50 hectares, 87.2% for 20 – 30 hectares, 85.1% for 10 – 20 hectares and 81.1% for less than 10 hectares.
Table 3.4 Gender of the holder by farm size, 2020

X-axis labelFemaleMale
Mixed Field Crops23.662730114623176.3372698853769
Other19.673055242390180.3269447576099
Specialist Sheep17.137940923429982.8620590765701
Specialist Beef Production12.502865464744787.4971345352553
Specialist Tillage11.889643091745188.1103569082549
Mixed Grazing Livestock10.037611659614589.9623883403855
Mixed Crops and Livestock9.948834565093890.0511654349062
Specialist Dairying7.8007702852666692.1992297147333
  • The highest proportion of female farm holders were on Mixed Field Crops (23.7%), Other (19.7%) and Specialist Sheep (17.1%) farms.
  • The lowest proportion of female farm holders (7.8%) was on Specialist Dairying farms.
  • For the remaining farm types, Specialist Beef Production, Specialist Tillage, Mixed Grazing Livestock, and Mixed Crops and Livestock, female farm holders accounted for 12.5%, 11.9%, 10.0% and 9.9% of farm holders respectively.
Table 3.5 Gender of the holder by farm type, 2020

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The average age of the farm holder in 2020 was 57, and in general farm holders are older in the West and in smaller, non-dairy farms. 

Map 3.2 Average age of the farm holder by county, 2020
  • The counties of the West NUTS3 region, Sligo and Dublin had the largest average age of farm holder in the state.
  • Galway and Mayo had the largest average ages of 59 years 2 months and 59 years 1 month, followed by Sligo (58 years 8 months), Dublin (58 years 6 months) and Roscommon (58 years 5 months).
  • Cork and Tipperary were the only counties with an average age less than 56 years, average age was 55 years 6 months in Cork and was just below 56 years in Tipperary.
  • Eleven of the remaining counties had an average age between 56 and 57 years of age.

 
Table 3.6 Average age of the farm holder by region and county, 2020

X-axis labelAverage Age of Holder
Less than 10ha59.0720324
10 - 20ha58.9735035
20 - 30ha57.7474668
30 - 50ha56.0983792
50 - 100ha53.723401
100ha +53.994383
  • Farm holders were younger on average on larger farms than small farms.
  • Typically, farm holders for farms less than 20 hectares in size were approximately 59 years of age.
  • Average age of the farm holder was between 56 and 58 years for farms between 20 and 50 hectares and was 54 years of age or lower on average for farms above 50 hectares.
Table 3.7 Average age of the farm holder by farm size, 2020

X-axis labelAverage Age of Holder
Mixed Field Crops59.7651962
Specialist Beef Production58.3379226
Specialist Tillage56.630173
Mixed Crops and Livestock56.3433769
Other56.3049605
Mixed Grazing Livestock56.2060414
Specialist Sheep56.1513622
Specialist Dairying52.0359031
  • Farm holders were youngest on Specialist Dairying farms with an average age of 52 years.
  • On five of the other farm types, Specialist Tillage, Mixed Crops and Livestock, Other, Mixed Grazing Livestock, and Specialist Sheep, farm holders were 56 years old on average.
  • The oldest farm holders in 2020 were found on Specialist Beef Production and Mixed Field Crops farms with average ages of 58 and 59 years respectively.
Table 3.8 Average age of the farm holder by farm type, 2020

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