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Highlighting Irish agriculture on St. Patrick’s Day

Mar 17, 2016

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Irish-themed celebrations taking place worldwide

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Passable Irish accent? Check.

Green beer? Check.

Shamrock-shaped paraphernalia? Check.

The world is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day today by visiting local pubs and drinking pints of its finest green ale.

However, Ireland is much more than a nation known for its mystical leprechauns and a reason to wear green every March 17.

St. Patrick's Day

Farming plays an important role on the Emerald Isle and is a key contributor to many of the country’s industries.

According to information from the European Union’s agricultural census in Ireland, the number of people with regular employment on farms grew from 257,950 in 2000 to 272,020 in 2010.

“The agricultural labour force represented 12.5 per cent of the active population in 2010,” the data states.

Ireland Agricultural Highlights:

As of 2011 there were 139,860 family farms in Ireland with an average size of 32.7 hectares
Of Ireland’s 6.9 million hectares of total land, about 4.5 million are used for agriculture
Gross Agricultural Output in 2015 was about €7.12 billion, or approximately $8 billion USD
Potato yields increased from 38.2 tons per hectare in 2013 to 40.5 tons per hectare in 2014
Canada imported over $164 million CAD worth of agri-food products from Ireland in 2014

So why is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated anyway?

St. Patrick is responsible for using shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost) to the pagans and bringing Christianity to Ireland; it’s sometimes described as St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17 as that’s the storied date of his death.

Join the discussion and tell us how you’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on your farm.

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