Falling farm incomes hit 10-year low

FAMILY FARM incomes dropped by almost one third last year due to a continuing fall in food prices, according to new figures published by agriculture development authority Teagasc.

Average farm incomes last year were just €11,986, their lowest level in 10 years, with incomes recorded at €11,088 in 1999.

However, when the figures are adjusted for inflation, farm incomes are actually 43 per cent below 1995 levels.

The decline last year follows a 13.7 per cent drop in incomes in 2008, bringing the overall drop in family farm income to more than 40 per cent since 2007.

The Teagasc National Farm Survey found that full-time farmers, particularly those involved in specialist dairy and tillage farming, were the worst hit due to poor market returns for milk and cereal.

Farmers are becoming increasingly dependent on subsidies and off-farm incomes to make ends meet, the survey found.

Declining prices for farm products had the biggest impact on full-time commercial farmers, whose incomes fell from €37,590 in 2008 to just €24,214. Incomes for those farming full-time have halved since 2007, the survey found.

Those farming only part-time sustained less of a hit, with incomes down by 13 per cent to an average of €6,611. However, part-time farmers struggled to find off-farm employment opportunities to supplement farm incomes.

While in more than half of all farming families the farmer and/or spouse had an off-farm job, employment rates for farmers were down by 3.7 per cent last year. Almost 80 per cent of farm families were reliant on some form of non-farming income from sources such as other employment, pension or social welfare.

Senior Teagasc researcher and head of the farm survey department Liam Connolly said while income fell in almost every type of farm, those focused on full-time dairy and tillage farming experienced the greatest losses.

“Milk prices dropped by 30 per cent, resulting in a 48 per cent decline in income on specialist dairy farms. The last two years have been disastrous for tillage farmers, who have seen their average family farm income drop by 62 per cent from 2007 levels.”

Direct subsidy payments continued to be “extremely important” to farm businesses, Mr Connolly said. The average direct payment in 2009 to farmers was €17,109, accounting for 36 per cent of gross output and 143 per cent of family farm income.

The average family farm income last year ranged from €23,684 on specialist dairy farms to €6,563 on cattle-rearing farms. On tillage farms average farm income was €15,247, while on sheep farms the figure was €9,688. Sheep farmers were the only farming group that showed a small increase of 1 per cent in family farm income last year.