A lack of productivity growth in the cattle sector on Irish farms has been described as "particularly worrying" in a study compiled by Prof Alan Matthews of Trinity College Dublin.
The study, Measuring and Understanding Productivity Growth in Irish Agriculture, estimated that productivity in Irish agriculture grew by 15.6 per cent over the 1984-2000 period.
It found that sheep farming had the most impressive performance over the study period due to an early burst in productivity growth rates of between four and five per cent annually.
But offsetting this, said the study, compiled with Ms Carol Newman, was what the report said was a substantial drop in the average efficiency of farms.
Dairy farming had performed poorly at the beginning of the study period but productivity had been growing more strongly since then.
Tillage farms had shown a reverse pattern with good productivity growth in the early part of the period and a gradual petering out since then.
"However," it said, "cattle farming performs poorly throughout."
"We hypothesise that agricultural policy changes during the 1990s such as the introduction of set-aside on tillage farms, the growth of extensification payments and the launch of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, may in part be responsible for some of the observed trends, particularly on drystock farms," said the report.
Saying the study did not have a comparative dimension, it could not be stated if Ireland's productivity performance was better or worse than our principal competitors.
"Nevertheless, there are warning signs. The lack of productivity growth in the cattle sector is particularly worrying given its important role on many farms and the reliance of cattle producers on high levels of support."