Direct payments to Irish farmers last year from the EU and national funds accounted for 69 per cent of farm income, Teagasc figures published yesterday show.
The annual farm incomes survey shows that the percentage of income now coming to farmers by "cheque in the post" increased by 15.5 per cent over 1997. And while average farm income was virtually unchanged at £11,000 in 1998, returns from markets show a decrease of 24 per cent even though gross output increased in value by 2.8 per cent.
The figures show that 37 per cent of farms, some 48,000, had an income from farming above £10,000. However, the remaining 80,000 earned less than £10,000.
Of the 48,000 farmers earning above £10,000, 9,000 earned more than £30,000 per year and a further 13,000 between £20,000 and £30,000. More than four out of five of those with incomes above £20,000 were in either dairying or tillage.
Some 40 per cent of farms had an income from farming of less than £5,000 in 1998. This amounts to some 51,000 farms. In half of these, the farmer or his spouse had an off-farm job.
The survey found that 30 per cent of these 51,000 farmers had income support in the form of social assistance or a pension. The number of farmers with incomes between £5,000 and £10,000 remained unchanged at 23 per cent.
Tillage overtook dairying as the highest income-earner last year. Average income on tillage farms was £19,700, an increase of 26 per cent. This was due to an increase in the value of output, particularly in potatoes, and a reduction in fertiliser and machinery expenditure.
The average income from dairying was £18,900, down by almost 8 per cent on 1997. The increase in the value of milk was offset by a fall in the value of cattle sold off dairy farms and a 6 per cent increase in costs.
The cattle sector showed two different outcomes. Cattle-rearing systems recorded a 3 per cent drop in incomes, while others showed an income increase of 14 per cent due to a 25 per cent rise in direct payments.
The incomes of sheep farmers were down by 9 per cent due to poor lamb prices and higher costs. Their average income was £7,200.
The survey found again this year that in the lowest income group 86 per cent were involved in rearing cattle and sheep and the farmer tended to be older than the average of 56 years. Some 37 per cent were either single or widowed, compared to 31 per cent in the overall farming population.
Some 27 per cent of farms were receiving payments under the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, and the average income from these farms was £11,400. This, said the report, was 4.5 per cent higher than the average family income on farms not participating in the scheme.
The report concludes that as the average farm income has remained virtually unchanged since the previous year and in 1996, the number of farmers earning over £10,000 has peaked unless increases in scale can be achieved.