Farm income increased by 7.3 per cent in 2007, the CSO said yesterday, in a year which was yesterday described by Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan as a "favourable year for Irish farming". Seán MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
The Central Statistics Office's (CSO) advanced estimate for the year showed an operating surplus of €2,510 million.
This followed a 12.4 per cent decrease in the previous year which followed the bumper year of 2005 when farmers received almost double payments from Brussels because of a changeover in farm subsidies.
However, the figures showed that not all sectors fared equally, with the value of cattle falling by €38 million and sheep by €3 million in a year which was very good for dairying and cereals.
In her annual review yesterday, Ms Coughlan referred to the increase in the dairy sector of €302 million and in cereals by €117 million, a 22.8 and 73.2 per cent increase respectively.
"The increases seen in the cereals sector created other difficulties for the pigs and poultry sector, and it was a difficult year for beef and lamb producers."
The Minister referred to the €1,787 million received in subsidies, and said this figure reached €1,850 million when all subsidies, including national ones, were taken into account.
"The outlook for 2008 is positive, with continued strength expected on dairy and cereals markets, and some tightening of meat supplies next year could result in a favourable market impact."
She said the reopening of the Saudi Arabian market for beef, the markets in South Africa and an expected demand from the UAE would help the beef industry.
She announced that a trade mission would soon go to Japan to develop the food and beverage markets there. There would be a continuing focus on the Asian markets, where demand for food and beverage was very strong.
"The rise in income this year provides a positive message both for our farming families and for the future of the sector," said Ms Coughlan.
Asked if she expected the consumer will have to pay more for food next year, she said it was reasonable to expect marginal increases in food prices.
"However, the dairy industry prices have come about on a spike, and it's difficult to predict these things because the producers claim these increases are not being fed back to them," she said.
On North/South co-operation, the Minister said this had worked very well during 2006, particularly during the foot-and-mouth difficulties in Britain. The co-operation and contacts continued to grow between the departments on both sides of the Border.
Commenting on the 7.3 per cent farm income increase, the president of the Irish Farmers Association, Pádraig Walshe, said the figures highlighted the different outcomes in different sectors.
"The CSO figures show that cattle prices overall were down by about 3 per cent and pig prices were down 4.5 per cent, while the price of purchased feeding stuffs was 11 per cent higher this year," said Mr Walshe.
"As a result, income from cattle production is extremely low and totally dependent on the EU single payment, and pig producers are in a loss-making situation in recent months.
"The priority for 2008 must be to achieve higher prices for the meat-producing sectors: beef, pigmeat and sheep.
"It is expected that the impact of higher feed costs globally will have to be reflected in higher market prices for these products in the coming months," he added.