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Teagasc’s 2023 National Farm Survey found that almost eight out of every 10 dairy farmers rented in land last year, a figure which has been trending upwards in recent years while fewer tillage farmers do so.
In 2023, the average price paid by dairy farmers to rent land was €208/ac and the equivalent for tillage farmers was greater at €223/ac.
The survey data shows that five years ago, dairy farmers had generally been paying more to rent an acre of land than tillage farmers.
The survey notes that land rental trends may be affected by factors including yearly price and weather difference, to a lack of supply and the possibility of previously rented land being purchased.
Teagasc’s analysis of the survey figures also shows that the dairy farmers that rent land are generally larger to begin with.
Sectoral conacre costs
The average farm spent just over €4,100 in total on conacre last year, up from an average of €3,682 in 2022.
Tillage farmers averaged a spend of €12,493 in land rental costs on average, while the dairy farmer equivalent was €9,783.
The corresponding cost came to €2,013 for sheep farmers, €1,607 for suckler farmers and €1,808 for those in beef.
Farmers in the south and east spent four times on average more on renting in land than farmers in the west.
Debt and investment
Two in every three dairy farmers carried debt in 2023, the highest of any sector, and an average of €136,171 is owed by these farmers.
Some 45% of tillage farmers have loans to repay of an average size of €84,199.
Fewer than one in three beef and sheep farmers had outstanding loans to pay and those who did had an average debt of €45,821 for cattle finishers, for €36,686 suckler farmers and €30,590 for sheep farmers.
A total of 62% of farmers across all sectors carry no debt and the average level of farm-debt declined in 2023 with a downturn in farmer investments.
The size of loans taken out by the average farm that was carrying debt was €77,090, equivalent to 2.7 times these farms’ income for 2023.
The farms typically had a higher income than their sector’s average for the year.
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