Farm Structure Survey 2023

Users should note that the statistics on labour force in agriculture outlined in this chapter reflect the labour force on farms which exceed a threshold farm size, as outlined in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No. 2018/1091 on Integrated Farm Statistics (see Background Notes for more details). The number of holdings that were above the threshold was 127,976, compared to a total of 133,174 farms which is used in other chapters of this publication, and makes the results comparable with labour force results from the 2020 Census of Agriculture. One annual work unit is defined as 1,800 hours or more of labour input per person per annum.

It should also be noted that group-holdings have been included in the 2023 Farm Structure Survey results (the same as the Census of Agriculture 2020 but unlike previous censuses). There is also an increased number of commercial entities 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 and 2023 results.

Labour Force

The survey results show that there were 299,725 people worked on farms in Ireland in 2023, including farm holders, family workers and regular non-family workers. This is an increase of approximately 30,000 (+11.2%) workers in the 10 year period since 2013.

More than half (52.6%) of farm holders stated that farming was their sole occupation, slightly less than the proportion in 2020; 53.3%. Over one quarter of holders (24.8%) regarded it as a subsidiary occupation.

Mid-East and Dublin and South-East regions had a larger proportion of farm holders where farming was the sole occupation compared to other regions with 60.4% and 57.7%. The Border, West, South-West and Midlands regions had approximately 50% of farm holders farming as a sole occupation.

The Border and West regions reported the highest proportion of farms where farming was a subsidiary occupation with 28.7% and 28.5% respectively.

Family and Non-Family Workers

86.8% of workers were either the farm holder or a family member. There were 39,471 regular non-family workers, accounting for 13.2% of farm workers. Non-regular farm labour was not included.

The regional distribution across gender was similar for persons and Annual Work Units (AWUs). The West region had the largest proportion of female persons working on farm holdings (13.5%) and had the largest female contribution to AWUs of all regions; 23.1%. The region with the lowest proportion of female workers was the midlands where 11.1% of workers were female and they accounted for 21.3% of AWU's.

Specialist Dairying holders reported the highest mean AWU when compared with other farm types. Mixed Crops and Livestock farms had the next highest mean AWU with 0.85 AWU. Farms classified as Mixed Field Crops reported the lowest mean AWU with a mean AWU of 0.54 AWU.

Farm Succession

Less than half (46.5%) of farm holders had a succession plan in place and 98.3% of these had named a family member as the successor.

The South-East and Dublin and Mid-East regions had the highest proportion of holdings with a succession plan in place with 50.2% and 50.0% respectively. The Border region had the lowest proportion of farm holdings with a succession plan in place with 41.6%. The South-West region had the next lowest proportion with 45.4%, followed by the West region with 46.8%.