The results are in and they offer a fascinating insight into agricultural life in West Cork.
OVER two thirds of the farmers who took part in the The Southern Star’s Great West Cork Farming Survey for 2025 are not involved in a farm succession plan.
Of the respondents, 68% aren’t part of a farm succession plan, either as the current owner or the successor.
The majority of farmers who took part in the survey were from Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bandon, Macroom and Dunmanway with 36% of them dairy farmers, followed by 30% who have beef enterprises.
The survey also revealed that 47% of respondents said they didn’t have a will – the majority of them (76%) said they hadn’t gotten to it yet.
That could potentially be due to lack of free time, as 51% of respondents said they had to rely on family members to help with farming, with 20% working entirely on their own. Only 8% said they worked with paid employees, while 58% said they don’t feel adequately rewarded for the work they do.
In keeping with this, low income and high input costs were identified in the survey as the two biggest concerns for the future of farming, followed by succession and climate change.
Interestingly, the number of part-time farmers was almost on a par with full-time farmers – 42% compared to 47% respectively.
The survey revealed that 41% sometimes feel isolated in their work, with the pub and sport cited as main social outlets. Some 48% said this isolation had impacted their mental health in some way. However, 60% of respondents said they don’t think there’s adequate supports in place to help farmers with their mental health. Only 8% have ever availed of such supports.
Of those who said they or a family member had a farm-related accident that required medical attention, 32% were unable to work on the farm for a period of months as a result of the accident, with 20% being out of action for weeks and 40% off duty for a period of days.
If Ireland was to lose its nitrates derogation – which is potentially on the cards – not surprisingly 31% said it would impact their work, with 25% saying it would impact it in an unsustainable way. However, only 21% are considering diversifying their enterprise.
Regardless, and positively, an overwhelming 77% would recommend farming as a way of life.
First run in 2018, again in 2020 and also in 2024 is designed to provide an insight into the current state of agriculture in the region.
Read the full results below.
Way of life
Somethings haven’t changed since we last ran the Great West Cork Farming Survey in March 2024 when 76.3% of those who responded said they’d recommend farming as a way of life.
In August 2025 a cool 77% said they would recommend it.
When asked why, a strong theme of working outdoors with nature, connection to the land and being part of the ‘real world’ was evident.
People also liked the idea that they were their own boss and the health benefits associated with a life in agriculture.
However, of the 23% who said they wouldn’t recommend it, some of the main reasons given were that it’s too difficult a life with not enough financial reward, bureaucracy/overregulation and lack of support for those farming on their own.
Education
Formal agricultural education ranked well with 35% having a Green Cert, 17% having a degree, 10% having a qualification at Fetac level 5/6 and 9% having a diploma.
29% hold no formal agricultural education whatsoever.
Sources of information
When asked about their preferred sources for farming news and information, 30.4% identified traditional broadcast media (radio and television) as their top pick, followed by print media at 22.4%, trusted news/farming websites at 14.2% and social media coming in at 12.4%.
Advisory services came in at 10.5% followed closely by ‘word of mouth’ at 9.9%.
Access to land
Of young farmers (under 35) who took the survey, approximately one in five (21%) said they did not have access to land on which to farm.
Of those who do have access to land, the majority (81%) already own it while 15% lease it and a further 4% are working on land owned by a parent.
Rewards
With long days, low returns and no proper time off being seen as contributing factors, only 19% of those surveyed felt adequately rewarded for the hours they work (compared to just 11.7% of respondents when asked the same question in our 2024 survey).
23% said they only felt ‘somewhat rewarded’ while a massive 58% of participants do not feel adequately rewarded for the hours they work on the farm.
Climate action
In an interesting deviation from our 2024 survey results when climate action and taking steps to mitigate damage to the climate were ranked as ‘very important’ by 45.2% of those who took the survey, this time that figure has dropped by just over 10% to 35%.
The percentage of respondents citing it as ‘somewhat important’ didn’t change quite as dramatically (46% vs 44.1% in 2024) but rather concerningly those that said it was ‘not so important’ had risen from 10.1% to 19% in 2025.
Farm safety
57% of farmers who completed The Great West Cork Farming Survey 2025 carry out a Farm Safety Risk Assessment every two years with 17% doing an assessment every five years.
Almost one in five (18%) admitted to never carrying out a Farm Safety Risk Assessment.
Just 16% said they or a member of their family had had an accident on the farm in the past five years that required medical attention.
Of that number 32% were unable to work on the farm for a period of months as a result of the accident, with 20% being out of action for weeks and 40% off duty for a period of days.
Division of labour
51% of farmers who took the survey work the land with the assistance of family members, while one in five (20%) does so on their own.
15% work in an ‘informal partnership’, 6% in a registered farm partnership and just 5% have paid employees working with them.
Succession and inheritance
68% of those taking the recent survey are not involved in any succession arrangement, either as the current farm owner or the successor.
A whopping 47% said that they have no will in place with 76% of those stating the main reason for not having done so is because they simply have not gotten around to it.
13% said the process was too complicated and 4% believe the process to be too expensive.
Derogation
When asked ‘If Ireland is unsuccessful in retaining its nitrates derogation in the next round of talks, to what extent would it affect your farm income?’
A massive 25% – one in four – respondents said that it would affect their farm income in an unsustainable way with another 31% stating that it would affect their income in a major but manageable way.
Diversification
A very significant 79% of respondents said that they are not engaged in, nor are they thinking about doing anything in the area of diversification to improve income from their farm.
Of those who are, reducing density and moving to organic production, forestry, farm tours and more agricultural contracting are the methods in place or being considered.
Mental health
41% admitted to feeling isolated in their work as farmers (slightly down on 2024 when 46.5% reported feelings of isolation).
In 2024 however, 37.7% said this isolation had affected their mental health, with this figure now rising to 48% in 2025.
60% of those taking the recent survey believe that there are not adequate mental health supports available to farmers, down from 80% in 2024.
A meagre 8% of those reporting mental health issues said they had availed of support services.
Social outlets
Despite the decline in the number of pubs in West Cork, the ‘local’ remains a very important focal point in the community it seems, with 30% of those surveyed acknowledging the pub as their chief social outlet, followed closed by GAA and other sporting activites at 25%, social events (e.g. dancing) at 17% and a not insignificant portion (12%) of those polled citing community groups (e.g. local development associations, Tidy Towns etc) as important social outlets.
Concerns for the future
While the percentages may have changed, the chief concerns for the future still rank in the same order as in our 2024 survey, as follows:
• High input costs (24% in 2025, 38.5% in 2024)
• Low income (22% vs 29.1% in 2024)
• Succession (20% vs 14% in 2024)
• Impact of climate change (16% vs 11.4% in 2024)
An interesting additional concern highlighted in the recent survey cites access to land as a significant concern for 14% of those taking the survey, with overregulation and no compensation for farm improvements relating to the environment also being mentioned.
