Iceland Series
Retreat from Farming

oil on canvas, 61cm x 51cm, Iain White 2012, £300

Derelict farm buildings like these are widespread in rural Iceland. Sometimes they are a result of farm modernisation, but equally they often attest to a significant reduction in the number of functional farms.

Between 1993-2008 there was an annual decline of 62 dairy farms on average. Those that remained at the end of this period where generally larger undertakings with the number of cattle per farm almost doubling

Over the same period the figure for sheep farms of which there are many more was an annual decline of 33 farms; considerably less than the drop in the number of dairy producers, but considerable, nonetheless.

Retreat from Farming

oil on canvas, 61cm x 51cm, Iain White 2012, £300

Derelict farm buildings like these are widespread in rural Iceland. Sometimes they are a result of farm modernisation, but equally they often attest to a significant reduction in the number of functional farms.

Between 1993-2008 there was an annual decline of 62 dairy farms on average. Those that remained at the end of this period where generally larger undertakings with the number of cattle per farm almost doubling

Over the same period the figure for sheep farms of which there are many more was an annual decline of 33 farms; considerably less than the drop in the number of dairy producers, but considerable, nonetheless.