With silage season delayed by about two weeks here in Sligo, there was time over the bank holiday weekend to read a couple of reports on the outlook and financial performance of beef farms in Ireland. While the national news reported on the large payments some farmers receive in EU grants and subsidies, the only figure that really matters on any farm is profitability.

So while these large payments make good headlines and give non farming folk plenty to talk about, the reality and bottom line figures are a lot different.

Last week, Teagasc published the preliminary results from their annual national farm survey for 2014 and it makes for sobering reading for anyone involved in the beef sector.

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The average income on cattle rearing farms amounted to €10,271 while the average income on other cattle farms amounted to €13,834.

The most worrying thing about these figures, apart from being so low, is the downward trend over the last four years. The other point to bear in mind is that these figures include all subsidies and direct payments received by farmers. The reality is that many of these farms are actually making a loss on an annual basis before all direct payments are taken into account.

So what can be done to reverse this trend? Improve the final beef price? Yes definitely, but this can only go so far, as consumers are turning away from beef towards cheaper alternatives such as chicken.

A fairer share of the final retail price to the farmer is absolutely necessary, but achieving this is easier said than done. An increase in direct supports might also be suggested, but this does not solve the problem of farms making a loss from farming activities.

How about more education and training for farmers in practices such as grass measuring, rotational grazing, cattle weighing and herd health. This could be simplest and best solution in the long run because every improvement made is cumulative and is likely to bring added value in future years.

The new Knowledge Transfer Groups will have a major role to play in improving farm profitability. First of all farmers will have to complete farm profit monitors, the results will leave many farmers completing their future in beef farming.

However, the first step to improving profitability is to measure the current performance of each individual farm. This along with the discussions and advice that the meetings provide should help the overall situation across the country, because at the end of the day the only thing that will ensure viable beef farms into the future is the size of the profit figure on the bottom line.