Producers of new television series on the lookout for ‘small farmers’ from Donegal

Are you, or anyone else in your family or community, a classic example of a ‘Small Farmer’? Are you / they over the age of 65 and running a farm of 25 acres or less? If so we would love to talk to you.

In the rural heart of Ireland, where nearly two-fifths of farm holders are over the age of 65, 45 per cent of holdings are under 25 acres, 36 per cent of farms have a standard output of €8,000 a year, and few small farmers have any plan for inheritance, a quiet story of resilience and legacy is playing out.

We are an Irish production company developing a documentary series looking at a fast-disappearing element of Irish life that was once as integral as a black bike and Mass on Sunday: The Small Farmer.

These men and women, from Donegal to Dingle, and from Connemara to Chapelizod, formed the social and cultural core of the rural population. The aim of this series is to capture the reality of that ‘small farmer’ life, and to learn more about it firsthand from the people on the ground.

According to series producer Brendan Phelan, a Laois native and from a farming background himself, “It’s high time that we heard firsthand from maybe the last examples of a whole class, a whole sector within Irish life that was for many generations probably most responsible for keeping the whole national show on the road. Small farming families were for many years the bulk of the rural populations and the indispensable element for mass national movements and economic progress.”

Now, as we witness the gradual fading out of that mass of Ireland’s rural population, it is finally time to tell their story. This series will look at how Irish farming is evolving, exploring the tension between tradition and progress, and asking what the future holds for those who have dedicated their lives to the land.

We are looking to interview a number of small farm holders, over the age of 65 with holdings of around 25 acres. Our hope is to meet interesting men and women that represent the overall reality of the small farmer population in Ireland.

If you are a small farmer or know a small farmer that would be interested in helping us in any way to tell this story, simply email smallfarmseries@gmail.com or call Brendan on 087 2925294.

“We think it’s time that the last generation who had first-hand knowledge of the way of life of Irish small farmers spoke for themselves, about their lived experiences and what formed their attitudes. That’s the programme we want to make”.