A Teagasc analysis of the performance of farming this year found that, while beef and tillage farmers saw some increases in margins, dairy, sheep and pig producers all suffered a drop.
The Agriculture and Food Development Authority's economist, Mr Liam Connolly, said its findings were broadly in line with Central Statistics Office preliminary figures showing a 2.2 per cent overall increase in agriculture income.
Mr Connolly, who was addressing the Teagasc "Situation and Outlook in Agriculture" conference in Dublin, said trends for 2004 pointed to a small decline in overall margins due to declining output and rising costs.
A reduction in milk prices contributed to a decline of about 2 per cent in margins in 2003, Mr Billy Fingleton, the organisation's dairy economic specialist, told the conference.
This, he said, followed a drop of 20 per cent in margins in 2002. He predicted a possible fall in milk prices of about 4 per cent in the coming year.
He said he believed the introduction of EU compensation payments would offset the price drop. A decline in calf prices, combined with cost increases and hardening foreign currencies, would result in continuing pressure on margins in dairying.
A prediction that margins in beef production could drop by around €100 a hectare was made by Mr Liam Dunne.
He said that during 2003 margins from beef increased by around 8 per cent on average due to a small reduction in costs and additional revenue from higher slaughterings and direct payments.
Ms Fiona Thorne, who examined the tillage sector, said farmers experienced a substantial improvement last year, following a very poor performance in 2002 because of bad weather and prices.