The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has published a booklet on farm performance in Northern Ireland.

The booklet, 'Northern Ireland Farm Performance Indicators 2024/25’, is the 23rd edition of this annual publication, which is designed to provide farmers with reliable data to assess the performance of their farm business.

Data in the booklet are extracted from farm account information, collected as part of the 2024/2025 Northern Ireland Farm Business Survey, which is undertaken by DAERA.

The Northern Ireland Farm Business Survey is composed of a representative sample of farm businesses and the data reflect performance levels achieved on Northern Ireland farms.

Enterprise data are presented in gross margin format.

Included are details of the value of output, variable costs and gross margin for each of the main enterprises found on Northern Ireland farms.

Increases in gross margins

Overall, 11 out of 13 of the main farm enterprises recorded increases in gross margins between 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.

The results further demonstrate a wide range in farm performance levels.

For dairy cows, for example, the difference in gross margin per cow between enterprises classified as 'excellent' and 'poor' equates to £1,012 per cow.

The report shows that the average gross margin result for dairy cows for 2024/2025 was £1,602 per head, compared to £940 for 2023/2024.

For non-less favoured area (LFA) suckler cows, gross margin was £342 per head in 2023/2024 decreasing to £262 for 2024/2025.

Non-LFA breeding ewes saw a gross margin of £111 for 2024/2025, up from £65 in 2023/2024.

Pigs, from birth to bacon, had a gross margin of £88 in 2024/2025, compared to £81 in 2023/2024.

Spring barley had a gross margin of £934 for 2024/2025 per hectare, up from £617 in the previous report, while winter wheat had a gross margin of £1,089 in 2024/2025, down from £1,212 previously.

In addition to enterprise gross margin data, the booklet contains information on hay, silage and grazing costs and average fixed costs by type of farm.

The booklet can be accessed on the DAERA website.