A €10m plus increase in Oireachtas grants drove Teagasc’s income up to €241.8m last year, up from €232.6m the year previous, the authority’s annual report shows.

The portion of Teagasc’s income earned from operations fell by around €2.5m to €44.5m, while income from livestock trading increased from just under €4m to €5m last year.

Expenditure increased by €9m year-on-year to reach €240m in 2024 as payroll costs were up by €9m to reach €109m.

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The authority reported to have had 643 workers who earned above €60,000 for the year, a drop of 33 on the previous year.

Its client list reduced slightly in size to 43,735, a drop of 190 farmers on the year previous.

Teagasc submitted 42,210 Basic Income Support for Sustainability scheme applications for farmers in 2024, having applied for 44,551 farmers in the year prior.

Fewer Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme applications were put in by Teagasc advisers last year than had been the year previous; a drop from 2,593 to 1,833.

There were 20,723 farm visits completed by Teagasc advisers last year, 3,327 of which related to climate and water quality.

The overall number of farm visits completed by advisers in 2024 was back by around 500 on 2023.

The number of discussion group meetings facilitated by Teagasc rose year-on-year to 2,954 last year.