Brian Moran, team leader for the National Farm Survey at Teagasc, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the meeting was to discuss the methodology to be used in measuring farmers’ labour.

While Teagasc’s benchmark studies of various farming sectors measure outputs and inputs, including hired labour, the bottom-line profit to farmers has so far appeared without being related to the amount of work they put in themselves.

Their own labour is quite literally not given any value

“Farmers get very frustrated when their production costs are published each year as part of the Teagasc National Farm Survey, that their own labour is quite literally not given any value,” said the IFA’s deputy president and representative on the Teagasc Authority Richard Kennedy. He argued that this understated actual production costs and sent wrong information to young people interested in farming or farmers trying to plug labour shortages.

While Kennedy hoped to see farmers’ labour measured in the 2016 farm survey to be published later this year, Moran said this was more likely to appear in the dairy enterprise factsheet due in July.

“What we are trying to do is to report this information below the line in our margin reporting,” he said. The plan is subject to approval by Teagasc management.

This work has so far began only for dairying, with Kennedy calling for it to be extended to other sectors in time.

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