This small farm size has been cited by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine (DAFM) as a barrier to the viability of our family farms.
Farm Partnerships have been promoted as the solution to this structural problem. There are two main categories of Farm Partnerships operating in Ireland today.
Firstly, there are Registered Farm Partnerships whereby two farmers come together, sign a partnership agreement and register it with in the partnership office in Dublin. Entering such a partnership allows both farmers to retain their individual identity when it comes to EU grants and payments but operate as a partnership in every other way. There are individual Basic Payments, two GLAS payments and of course the double TAMS. There are also a selection of taxation benefits to incentivise the farmer follow the registered partnership path. But there are one set financial accounts.