Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation
Fewer than 8,000 farmers under 40 have settled each year in 1996 and 1997.
In 1997, 140,700 agricultural wage-earners are employed on farms.
During the winter of 1996-1997, 45 % of farmers gathered wood.
Subject to market demands, food industry firms make use of new forms of management with the purpose of improving the quality of their products as well as reducing their costs.
For central and eastern European countries desirous of joining a European Union which devotes half of its budget to agriculture, it is essential to set up viable and objective tools to measure agricultural activity.
Since 1995, 55 000 farms have disappeared.
In 1997, 1 403 000 permanent workers work on agricultural holdings.
Long active in French agricultural production, the trend towards specialization and concentration is confirmed.
Trends which have been observed for several years are confirmed : equipment in high powered machines, professionalization of farm management.
The agricultural family population numbered 2 198 600 people in 1997, that is 4 % of the whole French population.
Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation