Protestant Farmers More Likely To Have Large Farms

Protestant farmers are more likely to own large scale farms than their Catholic counterparts, official figures have shown.

New statistics from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) provide a snapshot of life for farmers, with a focus on the social and equality issues that impact the sector.

It was discovered that around 85% of Catholics in the industry work from "very small farms", compared to those from the Protestant community.

The latter were found to be more likely to operate on large scale farms (10% compared to 2%), dairy farms (16% compared to 5%), and lowland farms (41% compared to 15%).

Generally, Northern Ireland farmers are overwhelmingly older males, and are almost exclusively all white.

Their average age was 59-years-old, with only 8% of those identified being head of the business under the age of 40.

Approximately 9% of principal farming partners were female, the majority of which work on small holdings.



(JG/CM)