Over 30% of tillage farmers earning more than €50,000

The latest Teagasc National Farm Survey has shown the average tillage farm income increased by 101% to €38,685 last year.

Its analysis showed that 24% of tillage farmers earned less than €5,000 last year, down from 42% in 2023. Some 30% of tillage farmers earned an income over €50,000, up from 11%.

Although gross output was up marginally (3%) to €158,131 and direct payments also increased marginally (2%) at €32,420 on average, there was an 11% decrease in average production costs, down to €119,466.

On average, direct production costs such as fertiliser and contracting decreased by 9% year-on-year to €62,204 and overhead costs like land rentals and hired labour declined by 14% to €57,242.

Cereals

The average tillage farm area remained stable in 2024 at 69ha. Of this, 37ha was dedicated to cereals, a drop of 4% on 2023.

This was due to unfavourable weather conditions in late 2023 and early 2024 which led to reduced winter planting, according to Teagasc.

However, the average tillage farm gross margin was €1,388/ha last year, up 12% year-on-year.