Social Survey of Farmers

Central Survey Unit were commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) to carry out this important survey.  The primary objective of the survey was to help DARD fulfil its obligations under New TSN and Equality Policies and those it administers on behalf of MAFF or the EU.

Secondary objectives of the survey were to:

• Identify the numbers of persons wholly and partly dependent on agriculture for their income and to use this as the benchmark for measuring the social impact of agricultural policies;
• Improve the targeting of rural development resources;
• Identify farmers´ and farm families´ perception of the opportunities for diversifying their activities, both on and off the farm, and the training needed take up such opportunities;
• Quantify the incidence, severity and nature of work-related accidents and ill-health on farms;

In all 2,750 farms participated in the survey, involving interviews with 4,000 people in 3,000 farm households.

The findings of the survey were published in the report ´Farmers and Farm Families in Northern Ireland´, which is available on the DARD website.