@article{Dillon:273480,
      recid = {273480},
      author = {Dillon, Emma Jane and Moran, Brian},
      title = {Labour input and technology adoption on Irish dairy farms  post-quota},
      address = {2018-04-16},
      number = {2111-2018-4129},
      pages = {1},
      month = {Apr},
      year = {2018},
      abstract = {The continued sustainable growth of Irish agriculture is  dependent on further productivity and efficiency gains. The  adoption of output enhancing technologies is critical in  this regard. Additional labour input will also be required,  particularly in the dairy sector where milk output has  increased on 80% of farms since 2014. The considerable  structural change experienced in Irish dairy farming over  the past decade is reflected in Teagasc National Farm  Survey (NFS) data indicating that a growing percentage of  farms now have a herd size of greater than 100 cows.  Further expansion in the dairy sector will result in an  increased demand for hired labour, particularly at peak  times of the year e.g. calving. Innovations like contract  rearing and collaborative farming as well as labour saving  technologies such as automatic milking are also becoming  more commonplace. Despite this, the role of owned family  labour remains critical and the management component of  this labour is of growing importance. In line with EU Farm  Accounts Data Network (FADN) methodology, the Teagasc NFS  currently captures the unpaid family component of farm  labour through self-reported hours worked on an annual  basis. Drawing on productivity studies undertaken elsewhere  this scoping study aims to further investigate the  contribution of labour in a more disaggregated fashion, an  important exercise given seasonal differences in labour  demand. One component of this proposed work is to undertake  a “Time Use Study” across a sub-sample of TNFS farms. This  will serve to both validate and improve upon data already  collected within the survey and will prove useful for  stakeholders in understanding the extent to which labour  input (owned and hired) has the potential to represent a  constraint on production growth. This would be the first  time Teagasc NFS data would be utilised in conjunction with  such data and would prove a useful benchmarking exercise.  Insights into the extrinsic and intrinsic factors  influencing farmer uptake of technologies (some of which  may be labour saving) will also be investigated using  econometric methods. From a sustainability perspective this  study will provide a better understanding of Irish farm  labour demand and the implications for current/future  work-life balance of on-going sectoral growth. Existing  farm-level sustainability indicators find a correlation  between economic performance and technology adoption but  questions remain as to the key drivers of innovation across  systems. This study aims to explore this further building  on previous work which confirmed the important role of  extension and education in this regard.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/273480},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.273480},
}