The average family farm income (FFI) for Irish dairy farmers stood at €150,884 last year, according to Teagasc.
The figure, which is based on a farm size of 65ha, is up by 53% when compared to the 2021 level and was driven by a sharp rise in milk prices.
The results of the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2022, published today (Monday, June 12), are representative of 15,319 dairy farmers around the country.
The data shows that the average income on dairy farms last year was €2,332/ha. This reflects a year-on-year increase of €794/ha.
Income
In 2022, 78% of dairy farmers reported an average family farm income above €70,000, up 17 percentage points on the previous year. Of these, 62% earned over €100,000.
At the other end of the scale, 5% of dairy farmers reported an average income of less than €30,000, with 8% earning between €30,000-50,000 and 9% having an income between €50,000-70,000.
In 2022, the average dairy FFI was 16 times that of the cattle rearing system.
Teagasc said that “sharply higher milk prices were observed in 2022”, however production costs were up by 32% on average.
The average dairy farm, with a herd of 93 cows, spent €63,564 on concentrates last year, up 39% on 2021. Feed volumes averaged 1,210kg/dairy cow in 2022.
However, the survey noted that there is a wide variation in feeding volumes on dairy farms across the country.
Expenditure on purchased bulky feed increased by 28% to €6,375 on average in 2022. Fertiliser expenditure increased year-on-year, up 107% to €31,384 on average.
Teagasc noted that the volume of fertiliser used on dairy farms was back by 5% on average, compared to 2021.
Machinery hire (contracting) expenditure increased by 20% on average to €15,784, with other livestock and veterinary costs up by 3% to €14,596 for the average dairy farm.
According to the survey the cost of hired labour on dairy farms rose by 13% last year to €7,112 on average.
Investment on dairy farms accounted for over half of total farm investment in 2022, with an average spend of €46,005/dairy farm.
66% of dairy farms were carrying debt in 2022; the average loan amount stood at €127,477, which is down 8% year-on-year.
On average, 77% of dairy farm debt was classified as medium to long-term.
Survey
Given the elevated milk price, gross output per hectare increased significantly in 2022, to €7,218 on average.
However, the increase in direct costs was also substantial, up 34% compared to the previous year.
This resulted in the average dairy gross margin per hectare increasing to €4,808 in 2022.
There was little change in the level of milk production in 2022 (+0.7%), due to high fertiliser and feed costs, coupled with a dry summer which impacted grass growth.
On a per hectare basis, average milk production decreased by 1% year-on-year to 12,019L.
The stocking rate increased marginally in 2022 to 2.10 livestock units (LU)/ha, up from
2.09 in 2021.
Last year, around 41% of dairy farmers were between 50-100ha, 27% were in the 30-50ha range, while 22% were over 100ha.
The average rental price paid per hectare by dairy farms in 2022 was €479/ha, surpassed by the price of tillage land at €511/ha.
Regional analysis
Almost three quarters of the country’s dairy farms are located in the south, 14% are in the north and west and a similar percentage are spread across the east and midlands.
On a per hectare basis, in 2022, dairy FFI was highest in the east and midlands at €2,483/ha.
The comparative figures for the south, and north and west, were €2,326/ha and €2,144/ha
respectively.
Direct costs per cow were highest in the north and west at €1,623/ha and lowest in the south at
€1,441/ha.
Concentrate feed use was on average, 1,532 kg/cow in the north and west in 2022, compared to 1,351kg/cow and 1,107 kg/cow in the east and midlands, and south respectively.
When average FFI/cow in 2022 is compared, farms in the east and midlands reported the
highest figure at €1,676/cow, with the comparative figure in the south €1,649/cow and €1,622/cow in the north and west.