The results of this year’s Teagasc National Farm Survey for tillage farmers will be a reminder of a record year in 2022 which saw prices, weather and yields all come together in a rare event and, while input costs jumped by 32% to an average of €133,632, price and yields made up for this.

Fertiliser costs increased by 125% to an average of €30,645, while the spend on crop protection increased by 26% to €12,181 and seed costs increased by 22% to €6,623.

The average income in 2022 on a tillage farm was placed at €76,654 on an average farm size of 71ha (175ac). This is up from €57,900 in 2021, an increase of 23%. That’s an income of €1,087/ha, up from €866/ha in 2021 and €518/ha in 2020. It should be noted that there is huge variation in farm sizes in the tillage sector.

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Some 38% of farm income in 2022 came from direct payments which average €410/ha.

Struggle

Unfortunately, 2023 is very different. At present, grain prices will see some crops struggle to breakeven and some may lose money.

Late planting and dry weather have really impacted some crops and yields are expected to be hit badly.