There are approximately 137,500 family farms in Ireland with an average size of 32.4 hectares per holding according to the Farm Structure Survey of 2016.

Teagasc (Farmers Income)

The report, highlights that average farm income is forecast to reach €48,500 in 2025

Ask About Ireland

The scale of our farming output relative to our domestic population of 4.9m people mean that Ireland exports some 90% of its net beef output, making Ireland the largest beef exporter in Europe and one of the largest in the world (Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, 2019). Similarly, 85% of dairy output is exported.

[–] Qwel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

This isn't exactly what I was searching for, I was more interested in the "independant farms" part

In France, most "family ran" farms work on rented land and under an exclusivity contract that forces them to sell all their production to a single company. This leads to a situation where the few billionaires that buy food from everyone get to set the prices at which they buy different crops (and therefore what the farmers produce), and whether to export it. In other news, France is exporting wine while malnutrition rises and the major food charity is running out of fund as the demand increases. The government has stepped in to fund the charity, but still, we end up prioritizing exporting alcohol over feeding locals.

I would be more interested in how the system decides what is exported and produced, rather than in what is currently exported and produced

[–] Coleslaw4145@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

In Ireland when we refer to a "family farm" it means its family owned.

This was due to the Land Acts which transferred ownership of farmland from landlords to the farmers.

Im not sure about exclusivity deals, I've heard if it in super markets, but we also have co-ops and farmers markets, so its possible for farmers to bypass that.