Irish Dairy farm incomes reach highest level ever this year - Cowsmo

Irish Dairy farm incomes reach highest level ever this year

Irish dairy farms incomes have recovered dramatically in 2017, with farmers finally seeing the benefits of dairy expansion in terms of the money in their pocket.
The Teagasc National Outlook conference taking place in Dublin, today, also heard that average farm incomes in Ireland have improved in 2017.
Dr Kevin Hanrahan, Head of the Teagasc Rural Economy and Development programme said overall average farm income in 2017 is estimated to have increased by about 30pc to about €31,900, compared with €23,500 in 2016.

“This increase is driven largely by the improvement in dairy farm and to a lesser extent in tillage farm incomes,” he said.
Dairy Incomes

An extended period of slow growth in world dairy production created the circumstances for milk prices to improve during this year’s Irish milk production season.  Farm milk prices in 2017 are up an estimated 30pc on the 2016 level.
Irish dairy farmers also benefitted from a benign input price environment in 2017, with fertiliser and feed price reductions offsetting an increase in fuel prices.

Dairy farm input usage volumes have risen in 2017, but this was anticipated given the increase in milk production nationally, estimated to be up by over 8 per cent this year. Family labour is not included in costs.

Teagasc Economist Dr Emma Dillon said that the average dairy farm income in Ireland in 2017 will exceed €90,000 – the highest ever figure – representing an increase of about €40,000 on the 2016 level.

This is the return for the family labour employed in the business and a return on the land and capital assets utilised.

2018 Outlook

Turning to 2018, the outlook for dairy is not as positive as for 2017, with a weakening in Irish farm milk prices of the order of 10pc likely to take place as global milk supply growth begins to outpace milk demand growth.
Milk production in Ireland will remain highly profitable however, and a further expansion of milk deliveries of 4pc is envisaged in 2018.

Due to contracting EU beef supply, stable EU demand and strong world markets for meat, EU and Irish beef prices are forecast to increase modestly in 2018. Despite some increases in input prices, gross and net margins on both cattle rearing and cattle finishing farms are forecast to increase in 2018.

Margins and incomes on sheep farms are likely to drop back in 2018, as lamb prices are likely to be lower than in 2017.
Dr Fiona Thorne, Teagasc Tillage economist noted that the prospects for tillage farms will depend on the global harvest in 2018, and the impact that will have on cereal prices in Ireland. Barring adverse weather, tillage farm incomes in 2018 should be in line with 2017 levels.

In 2018 Irish pig producers will see their margins drop back due to lower pig prices.

Teagasc Economist Trevor Donnellan said that overall, average farm income is likely to be down in 2018 and is estimated to be just over €29,800.
That would represent a 6pc reduction on the estimated 2017 figure. However, this will still mean that the average farm income in 2018 will be among the highest experienced in recent years. The main reason for the anticipated decline in 2018 will be the drop in dairy farm incomes.

One area of concern for 2018 is the ongoing Brexit negotiation process. It is still too early to speculate whether or not developments in those negotiations will have a significant impact on the UK economy and demand for Irish agri-food exports in 2018.

 

Source: Farm Ireland

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