Farm incomes will take a severe hit as a result of the summer drought, with dairy in particular looking at a complete “reversal of fortune” compared with last year. Teagasc director Prof Gerry Boyle, made the comments at the Teagasc annual report launch last week, which outlined how the average dairy income for 2017 exceeded €80,000.

“Admittedly, last year was high in terms of income on dairy farms but you’re going to have at least a 50% drop this year,” Boyle said. “People have been feeding for three months now in most cases and that’s all money flowing out.”

Boyle said that some farmers were clearly “going to be in big trouble heading into the winter”. He added that “stress levels are enormous” on farms and encouraged all farmers to complete a fodder budget.

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