Written answers
Tuesday, 27 June 2006
Department of Agriculture and Food
Farm Household Statistics
11:00 pm
Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 372: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of full-time farmers in County Tipperary in each year from 1990 to date in 2006; the number of part-time farmers during the same period; her views on the figures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24409/06]
Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available. The CSO Farm Structure Survey provides regional estimates and Table 1 and 2 below show figures for the Mid-West and South East regions in June 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003 (the latest year currently available). The Mid-West region comprises counties Tipperary N.R., Clare, Limerick County and Limerick County Borough. The South East region comprises counties Tipperary S.R., Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow, Waterford County and Waterford County Borough.
| Table 1: Number of farms in the Mid-West region — June 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003. | |||
| Year | Farmwork is sole occupation of farm owner | Farmwork is not sole occupation of farm owner | Total |
| 1991* | 15,200 | 4,900 | 20,000 |
| 1993 | 12,900 | 6,000 | 18,900 |
| 1995 | 12,300 | 6,000 | 18,400 |
| 1997 | 12,100 | 5,800 | 17,900 |
| 2000** | 9,500 | 7,200 | 16,700 |
| 2003 | 9,400 | 6,600 | 16,100 |
| * June 1991 Census of Agriculture figure. | |||
| ** June 2000 Census of Agriculture figure |
| Table 2. Number of farms in the South East Region — June 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003 | |||
| Year | Farmwork is sole occupation of farm owner | Farmwork is not sole occupation of farm owner | Total |
| 1991* | 16,000 | 4,200 | 20,200 |
| 1993 | 13,900 | 5,500 | 19,400 |
| 1995 | 13,700 | 5,600 | 19,200 |
| 1997 | 13,400 | 5,200 | 18,500 |
| 2000** | 10,500 | 6,400 | 16,900 |
| 2003 | 10,000 | 5,900 | 15,900 |
| * June 1991 Census of Agriculture figure. | |||
| ** June 2000 Census of Agriculture figure |
| Table 3. Number of farms in County Tipperary — June 1991 and 2000 | ||||||
| 1991 | 2000 | |||||
| Farmwork is Sole Occupation | Farmwork is not Sole Occupation | Total | Farmwork is Sole Occupation | Farmwork is not Sole Occupation | Total | |
| County Tipperary | 7,400 | 2,000 | 9,400 | 4,700 | 3,100 | 7,800 |
| Tipperary N.R. | 3,500 | 900 | 4,400 | 2,300 | 1,600 | 3,800 |
| Tipperary S.R. | 3,900 | 1,000 | 4,900 | 2,400 | 1,500 | 3,900 |
The prevalence of part-time farming (Farmwork is not the sole occupation) has increased over the period 1991-2000 from 2,000 to 3,100, an increase of 55% according to the Central Statistics Office Census of Agriculture.
The total number of farmers in Co. Tipperary has decreased at an annual rate of 1.7% per annum from 1991-2000, which is a similar figure to the rest of the country.
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