The number of people farming in the West of Ireland has fallen by 40 per cent in the last 20 years.
That's the finding of a new report on the sector conducted by The Western Development Commission.
Between 2011 and 2016, numbers fell by 7 per cent in Connacht, Clare and Donegal.
News Correspondent with the Irish Farmers Journal Pat O'Toole says farming is vital to the economy in the west:
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