Labor dynamics in Finnish dairy farming: workforce composition, employment patterns & generational shifts – panel data analysis (2000-2020)

Finnish dairy farming act as a pivotal sector in Finnish agriculture. This study focuses on the structural evolution of the Finnish dairy labor dynamics from 2000 to 2020, concentrating on production line transitions, workforce alignment and its dynamics, along with transitions in farm physical attributes and impact of generational succession on labor input. By utilizing longitudinal data from the Agricultural Census, the study analyses the population of 22,913 dairy farms in Finland and depict periodic shifts in production orientation, labor distribution among ownership forms of family farm, agricultural company and legal entity. The results reflect a substantial decrease in dairy farms, from 22,913 in 2000 to 5,147 in 2020, outlining sectorial intensification. Almost one third of farms had ceased producing dairy, with many moving to crop and grain farming (20.1% and 10.9%, respectively) by 2020. Ownership shifts demonstrate that family farms continue to dominate, but farms that changed to legal entities experienced the most significant average growth in farmland area of +123.90 ha (131%) and herd size of +126.63 cattle (112%), indicating intensive consolidation. Labor dynamics demonstrate an expanding frequency of solo workers in family farms and agricultural companies (11% to 65% and 3% to 49% respectively in 2010 & 2020), but legal entities steadily adopted medium workforces (4+ workers), indicating labor strengthening in the corporate model. Generational succession is observed in 39.1% of continuously operating family farms and has led to an annual average increment of 149.7 hours in work of the responsible person in charge in the farm, compared to the annual average increment of 35.7 hours in farms lacking succession; nevertheless its impact on total labor growth and permanent labor increment appears modest. Overall, the findings imply that temporal shifts in production line, labor dynamics, generational shift occurs due to the aging of farm’s responsible person and developments in farm physical attributes along with farm ownership transformations have contributed to paradigm shifts in Finnish dairy farming.

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Rathnasekara Peragonsal Acharige, Dilini

• Finnish dairy farming
• Production line
• Workforce composition
• Generational shift
• Structural change
• Farm ownership shifts

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright 1.0

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/598465

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/598465