Agriculture – Hanover – proportion of farmers in part-time business is increasing – economy
Hanover (dpa / lni) – The number of farms that live exclusively from agriculture has noticeably decreased in Lower Saxony in recent years. In 2010, 62 percent of the individual agricultural businesses were still full-time, the share in the 2020 agricultural census was only around 54 percent, the State Statistical Office said. That was still higher than the nationwide average, where the path in 2020 is 43 percent.
There are many reasons why over half of the farmers in Lower Saxony only work part-time. In addition to uncertain purchase prices and legal regulations, the change in the world of work is also a factor in this development, analyze the statisticians of the state office. Crises and market fluctuations can be better cushioned with a broad structure, for example by continuing to gain employment.
Many family farms rely on a combination of sources of income, some of which are also outside of agriculture. In the most recent agricultural census, attached farm shops or an operationally outsourced biogas plant were named as examples. When counting last year, 16,050 agricultural businesses in Lower Saxony stated that they generate sales from such combinations. That’s around 45 percent of all.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211209-99-312231 / 2