Teagasc Says Irish Farm Off-Farm Work Falls to 59% as Pensions Rise to 39%
Updated
Updated · teagasc.ie · Jul 12
Teagasc Says Irish Farm Off-Farm Work Falls to 59% as Pensions Rise to 39%
1 articles · Updated · teagasc.ie · Jul 12
Summary
59% of Irish farm households had either the farmer or spouse working off-farm in 2025, down from recent years, while the share of farm holders themselves working off-farm was broadly unchanged at 43%.
39% of farm households received pension income in 2025, a rise Teagasc linked to the ageing profile of Irish farmers rather than a broad shift in farm-holder employment.
60-year-old cattle farmers and 59-year-old sheep farmers were the oldest groups on average, helping push pension receipt to about 44% on cattle farms, versus 38% on sheep, 26% on tillage and 25% on dairy farms.
74% of tillage households had off-farm income, compared with 62% on cattle rearing farms and 57% on cattle and sheep farms; dairy stood out because only a small share of farmers worked off-farm but 53% of spouses did.