ONLY 30 per cent of Irish farms can be classified as viable on economic and demographic criteria. And it is likely that within 10 years the number of farms will drop from 154,000 to between 110,000 and 130,000.
This is the view of a major report, "The Changing Structure of Irish Farming" by the rural economy research unit of Teagasc the agriculture and food development authority.
The report, compiled by Dr James P. Frawley and Dr Patrick Commins, concluded that 44,000 Irish farms were viable and that a further 40,000 were non-viable but have off-farm employment.
They concluded that a further 41,000 were non-viable but had what they termed a good household structure but there were 30,000 farms which were non-viable and had poor household structures.
The authors predicted that the number of farms will continue to decline and, depending on the assumptions made, the projected number of farms over 2.4 acres in the State by 2005 could fall from the current 154,000 to between 110,000 and 130,000.
It said that between 1985 and 1994, farm numbers declined by about 3 per cent per annum. While the total of farms over 100 acres remains static, those of under 50 acres had shown substantial decline.
Dealing with farm economy, the report said that over the last 20 years clear regional dimensions have started to emerge.
Farms in the south and southeast are now, on average, three and-a-half times bigger than those in the north and northwest in economic terms.
The report, which is based on 1994 figures, also found that comparatively few farm households, 24 per cent, depend solely on their farms for their incomes.
In 1994 payments, mainly from the EU for compensation, accounted for 41 per cent of average national farm family income and the proportionate contribution of these payments to that income was also higher on the larger farms.
The report found that in 1994 on an estimated 34 per cent of farms the farmer and/or his spouse earned another source of income. These farms accounted for 17 per cent of the agricultural area used and 14 per cent of gross farm output.
The survey found the incidence of part-time farming was highest on cattle and sheep farms and lowest on dairy farms.
It also found that in 1991, 22.8 per cent of farm-holders were aged over 65, but the percentage declined on farms over 50 acres.
The report concludes that it must be accepted that the problems of deficient agricultural structures cannot be solved by agricultural measures alone.
"Essential is a diversified rural economy which can offer employment to those displaced from commercial farming. In turn, this calls for multi-sectoral and complementary sets of measures within the framework of rural and regional development programmes," it said.