The surge in suckler farmer incomes in 2025 pumped an additional €600-800m into the Irish economy, leading Teagasc economist Trevor Donnellan has estimated.
Teagasc projections put the average income on cattle rearing or suckler farms in 2025 at over €29,000.
This is more than double the figure for 2024 when suckler incomes averaged €13,788, according to National Farm Survey.
This sharp increase in suckler farmer margins and incomes came on the back of record cattle and beef prices through the first half of 2025.
“The large increase in cattle prices in 2025 led to an increase in the value of farm output (cattle sales) and in turn this increased suckler farmers’ profit margins and farm income by about €400m, taking it to over €1 billion,” said Donnellan.
“While this obviously benefitted the farmers concerned, suckler farming activity also has an impact on the wider economy,” the Teagasc economist explained.
The spending of the additional suckler farm income in shops, services and trades “generated further rounds of spending by those businesses, which also benefited the wider economy,” he added.
Donnellan also pointed out that suckler farmers spent in the region of €1.2 billion each year on farm inputs – feed, fertiliser, contractors, vet services, machinery etc – which supported employment and economic activity in the wider rural economy.
In addition, there is a knock-on impact of the output of the meat processing sector when animals reared on suckler farms were eventually finished, he explained.
“Taking these factors into account, the additional economic contribution of suckler farmers to the Irish economy in 2025 could be in the range of €600m to €800m,” Donnellan said.
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