Irish farmers are “going slowly broke” as their incomes slowly plummet. 

Last year, farmers raised concerns about the impact the wet weather was having on their livelihoods and data from the CSO has confirmed that in 2023 farm incomes fell to their lowest level since 2014. 

Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show, Irish Farmers Journal reporter Pat O’Toole said the past few years has seen the sector experience both highs and lows. 

“The biggest drop was in dairy farm incomes but… incomes yo-yo and 2022 was a bumper year,” he explained. 

“It was a record year in terms of high incomes, so it was inevitable that there would be a drop but it’s the scale of the drop.

“Dairy incomes dropped from €150,000 - which was a windfall from milk prices going from 60 cents a litre, up from their normal 30 cents a litre. 

“Dairy incomes went down to under €50,000 and that sounds like a good income - and it is a good income - but there are very significant costs on most dairy farms.” 

Farmers showing sheep. Picture by: Alamy.com

Mr O’Toole said dairy farmers are not even the worst impacted by the drop in incomes. 

“Tillage farms saw their income collapse by 71% - tillage farmers on average only made €21,500 last year,” he said. 

“Sheep farmers are faring even worse; the average sheep farmer is making €12,500. 

“The average beef finisher is making about €15,000.” 

Sheep farmer with a flock on a road in County Donegal. Picture by: Alamy.com

Many of these farmers are part-time but Mr O’Toole said it is undeniable that it is increasingly difficult to make a living from land. 

For many farmers, State subsidies are the only thing that allows them to carry on. 

“When you take the subsidies out, the dry stock sector - who are farmers raising animals other than dairy farmers - they’re losing money,” he said. 

“Dry stock farmers are losing money and tillage farmers are barely breaking even when you remove all the subsidies. 

“The marketplace is not returning an income to farmers at all.” 

Mr O’Toole said this is not a problem unique to Ireland and that “first world farmers are getting third world prices”. 

“That’s not just a problem in Ireland, it’s a problem in the developed world that farmers are going slowly broke,” he said. 

According to the Department of Agriculture, roughly 170,000 are employed in Ireland’s agri-food sector.

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Main image: Farmer in Ireland walking behind a herd of cows on a narrow country road on Valentia Island in County Kerry, Ireland.