Laois women near bottom Irish league for farmer ownership

Laois has one of lowest levels of farm ownership by women according to the latest figures which reveal that that men dominate land ownership in the county and around Ireland.

The recently published Central Statistics Office (CSO) Farm Structure Survey 2023 provides info on the demographics of farming including the sex of the farm holders by region and county.

The CSO found that the West had the highest proportion of female farm holders (13.9%). The Midlands had the lowest proportion with 11.6%.

The county with the highest proportion of male farm holders was Monaghan (89.8%), while Mayo reported the highest proportion of female farm holders (15.5%).

As for Laois there were 356 women farm holders which was 11.3% of the 3,163 total countywide. A total of 2,807 men owned farms in Laois that's 88.7%.

Laois is below the national average for women owning farms. There are 17,519 female landowners across the Republic which 13.2% of the 133,174 people who own farms. There were 115,655 male landowners in the 26 counties in 2023 which is 86.8% of the total figure.  

The number of female farm owners nationally rose by nearly 570 or almost 6% in the decade to 2023. The survey showed that the number of women over the age of retirement rose dramatically by nearly 30% around the country between 2013 and 2023. A total of 7,746 women aged 65 or over owned farms in 2023 which is up 1,764 on the year previously.