Irish Farm Report -

Key takeaways

Dairy Profits:

Average dairy farmer made a net profit, before other farm income, of €948/ha in 2019.

The 2018 figure was €804/ ha.

Dairy Cost:

Average costs per litre decreased by 6.7% mainly driven by a reduction in feed costs, which reduced by 21% yearon-year.

Dairy Top 25%:

The top 25% of dairy farmers made a net profit, before other farm income, of €1,735/ha.

Beef Profits:

Average beef farmer made a loss, before other farm income, of €101/ha. The figure for 2018 was loss of €116/ha.

Beef Stat:

66% of beef farmers made a net profit before other farm income of €251/ha.

Beef Top 25%:

Top 25% of beef farmers made a net profit before other farm income of €251/ha

Sheep Sector:

The average sheep farmer made a loss before other farm income of €144/ha.

When other farm income was included, a net profit of €337/ha was achieved.

Tillage Sector:

Average tillage farmer made a profit of €153/ha before other farm income.

When other farm included a profit of €591/ha was achieved.

Environment:

Some 93% of farmers were willing to take actions on farm to lower carbon footprints, while 91% felt that carbon tax collected from agri sector should be ring-fenced for farms.

Succession:

A staggering 84% of farmers have no definite succession plan in place with over 1/3 of farmers having no will.

Over one-third are avoiding the issue of succession as they believe their business is not viable.

Cashflow & Budgets:

Over half the farmers surveyed do not complete a cashflow or budget.

Interestingly, over onethird of these farmers cited lack of financial ability & understanding as the reason why not completed.

Financial Planning:

22% of farmers have no household personal life cover in place with 34% of these respondents belonging to the 55-64 years category.