farm

The slow death of the family farm

Yes, the number of family farms is declining in Europe. But it may not be a bad thing. Let’s dive in:

On paper, the average EU farm gets credited with 17.4 hectares. But here’s the twist: 82% of farms are smaller— much smaller, with 64% of all farms having less than 5 ha of agricultural land and additional 12% having 5-10 ha. Most of those would be considered “family farms”, but few of them would actually sustain a family.