In 2023, Irish dairy and tillage farmers had an immensely challenging year characterised by significant income reductions, as revealed by Teagasc’s yearly national farm survey released on Tuesday. The downturn was primarily attributed to a dramatic drop in milk and cereal prices, coupled with reduced production volumes in a period of high input prices – a situation further worsened by unfavourable weather conditions.
The substantial decrease in earnings from dairy and tillage farming contradicts the record income levels of the previous year, underscoring the extreme fluctuations in the farming income of these Irish farming systems, as stated by Teagasc.
Francie Gorman, the president of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), pointed out that these results glaringly show the vulnerability inherent in Irish farming. He highlighted that the average family farm income in 2023 was less than €20,000, the lowest in over 10 years.
Additionally, beef and sheep farming also saw a downward trend, with costs of production remaining on the higher side and dry stock farm incomes in 2023 significantly reduced compared to 2022.
Overall, these drops in price and production have greatly impacted the average Irish farm income. The survey represents nearly 85,000 farms across Ireland.
On an international level, the sharp fall in dairy commodity prices in 2023 also had a rippling effect on Irish farm milk prices. Additionally, the global surge in cereal crop production due to favourable conditions, resulted in a global harvest that led to a decrease in international and Irish grain prices.
The latter half of the year was marked by tough weather conditions, with heavy rainfall negatively affecting tillage yields, grazing conditions, and silage production. Milk production also saw a decline, due to the need to dry off cows early as a result of low milk margins. Francie Gorman highlighted that farm income levels are at an unprecedented low, with an average decrease of 57% compared to 2022.
He emphasized that no sector escaped unscathed, with dairy and tillage feeling the brunt with the most significant overall decreases. Average income for sheep and livestock farmers, especially those rearing suckler cows, also suffered a drastic blow and reached the lowest recorded levels.
The trials faced by agricultural families throughout all sectors are evidencing severe issues. Mr Gorman emphasised that this problem should serve as a stimuli to the newly-established European Union Commission. Haphazardly anticipating conventional continuation of food manufacturing given the current circumstances is merely unviable.
He added that a further decrease in food manufacturing was foreseeable, unless merchandisers began proposing fair remunerations for food and national and European agriculture strategies adapted to appreciate that these agricultural revenue tiers are simply not feasible.
In 2023, costs of dairy production constituting the highest rates in 2022 that had risen by over 30 per cent remained unchanged. Despite an increase in the number of dairy cows last year, the volume of milk output declined by 4 per cent owing to meagre profitability and production complications in the latter half of the year.
This led to an average annual income for a dairy farm that was slightly less than €49,500 in 2023. This was a reduction of 69 per cent, or over €105,000, compared to the earnings in 2022.
In the system of cattle rearing, consisting primarily of farms catering to suckler beef production, in 2023, the output’s value rose by 6 per cent, largely attributed to increased cattle prices. Although, certain expenditure aspects like fertiliser dropped in price during the year 2023, but the reduction occurred too late in the growth period to lead to considerable cost saving.