Family farming and the role of policy in the EU
There are around 12 million farms/holdings in the European Union with an average size of 14.2 hectares. The vast majority of these farms are family farms which are operated as family-run businesses in which the farm is passed down from generation to generation (see diagram). One indication of the importance of family farming is that about three quarters (77.8 %) of the labour input in agriculture came from the holder or members of his/her family in 2010. For some countries, such as Ireland and Poland, the proportion is over 90%. There are only a few member states (France, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) where non-family labour accounted for a majority of the labour force in 2010.
Title of publication: http://capreform.eu/
Author: Alan Matthews
Year: 2013
Geographical coverage: European Union (European Union)
Type: Blog article
Full text available at: http://capreform.eu/family-farming-and-the-role-of-policy-in-the-eu/
Content language: English