Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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177. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which family farms are likely to remain viable in the years ahead in view of possible changes in the marketplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37979/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Teagasc’s National Farm Survey 2015 report on Farm Viability, which represents just over 84,259 farms, estimated that:

- 37% of farms were economically viable.  An economically viable farm is defined as one that has the capacity to pay family labour at the average agricultural wage, and also to provide a 5% return on non-land assets.

- 29% of farms were sustainable due to the presence of off-farm income. 

- The remaining one-third of NFS farms were classified as ‘vulnerable’.

A further 50,000 farms are excluded from the National Farm Survey because their standard output is less than €8,000.  Most of these farms are small, but may be sustainable due to off-farm sources of income.

Around 2,000 commercial farms in sectors such as pigs, poultry,  horticulture and potatoes are not covered by the National Farm Survey.

It is clear that profitability remains challenging for many farmers. My Department, through the Food Wise High Level Implementation Committee, will continue to focus on measures to improve competitiveness and innovation at farm level, while encouraging inter-generational transfer and land mobility.