Agricultural income increased by 1.3 per cent this year, the Central Statistics Office says in its 2004 advance estimate.
The estimate, released yesterday, said the operating surplus on farms at €2,183 million compared with the 2003 figure of €2,155 million. Net subsidies fell by 0.1 per cent or €2 million which represented €67.5 per cent of the operating surplus.
It found that cattle output value increased by €61 million, sheep by €13 million and there was little change in the value of milk output.
However, there was a fall in the output value of cereals of €13 million but an increase in the volume produced was offset by a price decrease of over 11 per cent.
The president of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr John Dillon, said that while the figures showed some improvement over last year, advanced premium payments had clouded the issue.
"The improvement in cattle prices by almost 10 per cent is the single most important positive factor in 2004," Mr Dillon said. "However, the volume of cattle output is down by 4.6 per cent following an increase in the previous year."
He was pleased however that the strong lobbying campaign by the IFA had helped to prevent a price cut to farmers.