Teagasc Annual Report and Financial Statements
IN 2017 the level of income in Teagasc was similar to 2016 having increased substantially for the previous two years in a row. Excluding the Net Deferred Funding for Pensions, income in 2017 was €187 million (2016 income - €187m). There was an increase of €1.6 million in Grant in Aid compared to 2016. Knowledge Transfer income decreased by €1.8 million (7%); Research income increased by €1.4 million (5%); there was an increase of €0.9 million in livestock trading income and €0.6 million in other farm operations income.
Speaking at the publication of the Teagasc Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2017, Chairman of the Teagasc Authority, Dr Noel Cawley said: “Teagasc’s research, advisory and education activities continued to support the development of the agri food sector last year. 2017 was a generally a good year for farmers with average farm income, as measured by the Teagasc National farm Survey, increasing on the previous year. This was mostly driven by improvements in dairy farm income, while income on tillage farms also increased. Unfortunately this has been followed in 2018 with all farming sectors facing weather related difficulties in the spring and again in the summer.”
Teagasc Director, Professor Gerry Boyle said: “The expansion of the Irish dairy industry over the last three years has been of significant financial benefit to Irish family farms, the wider rural economy and the national economy.”
Some of the key Teagasc highlights during 2017 included the following:
New initiatives in 2017:
* €8.8 million of exchequer funding for a new Food Innovation Hub based in Teagasc Moorepark
* Launch of Meat Technology Ireland (MTI), an €8.1 million five year research programme, co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and 9 beef and sheep processing companies, and hosted at Teagasc Ashtown food research centre and at other partner research organisations.
* A new sustainability support and advisory programme to achieve improvements in water quality was launched.
* Grass10, a four year, industry supported, campaign to promote sustainable grass production for the Irish rumi- nant sectors
Knowledge Transfer advisory activities:
* Advisory services were provided by Teagasc advisors to 43,450 farmer clients
* Using the Teagasc online nutrient management planning tool (NMP), plans for 11,200 farmers were completed in 2017
* 11,800 farmers participated in Teagasc facilitated discussion groups
* GLAS service provided to 15,000 farmer clients through the National co-op Farm Relief Services limited
* 10,000 GLAS clients trained
Knowledge Transfer education activities:
* Over 7,000 learners participated in Teagasc further education and Teagasc linked higher education programmes in 2017
* Teagasc education vision project completed following consultation with stakeholders
Three major Teagasc National Open Days took place in the summer of 2017:
* Teagasc Dairy Open Day in Moorepark
* Crops and Cultivation Open Day at Teagasc Oak Park
* Sheep Technology open day in Teagasc Athenry