Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation
In 2005, there are 679,000 family members working on professional farms.
There were 347,000 professional farms in 2005, 45,000 fewer than in 2000.
Out of ten farm holders who began farming between 1989 and 1997, seven declare that farming is their main occupation, the others being inactive, retired, or working in a profession with no direct links to agriculture.
According to the 2000 agricultural census, 35 % of farms that have set themselves up since 1988 and fulfil the requirements regarding the age of the holder and the economic dimension of the farm to benefit from « young farmer grants » do not have this aid from the State.
In 2000, in the overseas départements, as in metropolitan France, each farm occupied a full-time equivalent of 1.3 people.
In the year 2000, young farmers in the extraperipheral departments (DOM) were managing small, individual farms with little equipment.
In a society where there is less and less employment in agriculture, those farms engaged in farm tourism, selling direct from the farm, transforming farm produce or even offering services have curbed this trend somewhat by requiring more workers per farm.
Over the three year period leading up to the year 2000, 13,600 farmers or first time farm partners (on average 4,500 per year) came back to a company-type structure.
In 2000 non-professional farms represented 40.8 % of all farms but accounted for only 12.3 % of equivalent full-time labour, 8.2 % of agricultural acreage and 5.5 % of overall agricultural economic activity.
The introduction of official quality labels in the fruit sector continued between 1997 and 2002.
Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation