|
This article was first published on April 17th, 2008.
What is a small farm household?
It’s a very pertinent question and in an effort to ensure that the Small Farm Support Service accesses those farmers who need the service most, we set about trying to put a standard definition on what is a small farm household. In the past we tended to used farm size, milk quota, herd size, etc as indicators but a more reliable parameter is household income as it’s the best indicator of household financial health.
Farmers may not have contacted the service or been referred because they were deemed too large to need the support of the service but recent years has seen a trend of larger farms now struggling to make a viable income from farming due to higher costs and lower return prices, many of these would benefit from using the service. To take a married farmer with a dependant spouse and two children as an example, an income of approximately €25,000 would be needed to support that household. The service would aim to use this as a guide figure, while also taking into account other factors such as farm size & enterprise, any social welfare payments received, debts, social status, education, etc. The role of the Small Farm Holder Service is to help ensure the future viability of smaller farm households in the current farming economic climate. Support is offered to individuals/households on a one to one basis, tailored to suit the needs of individual households. This ranges from farm related advice to obtaining entitlements to training & upskilling to getting off farm work or starting a new non farming business activity. All services and consultations are free and confidential.
|
|
|
