The total operating surplus for farmers in Ireland in 2021 is set to be 18.1% higher this year compared to 2020, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
In its Advance Estimate for Output, Input and Income in Agriculture 2021, the statistics agency said that the agricultural operating surplus will grow by €588.9 million in 2021 compared to last year.
This will give a total operating surplus of €3.85 billion. The main outputs that contribute to this increase are the stronger prices for milk and cattle seen this year, the CSO said.
While the volume of cattle production in 2021 is expected to be 3.5% lower at year’s end compared to last year, the value of that output is expected to be 10% higher than in 2020.
This equates to an increase of €229.5 million, bringing the overall output value for cattle to €2.52 billion.
Looking at other livestock, sheep will see a very slight volume increase of 0.1% but, despite this, output value for sheep will jump by 19.3%, reaching €361.9 million, an increase of €58.7 million.
This positive trend is unfortunately not repeated for pigs where, despite a small volume increase of 1.6%, output value will be lower by 6.1%, a decrease of €36.8 million to €565.1 million.
The figures for poultry are more balanced, with a 3.4% increase in volume and a 4.3% increase in output value, equating to a rise of €7.8 million to €187.9 million.
Looking at the overall figures for all livestock, volume is expected to fall by 1.8%, while output value will increase by 8.4%, an increase of just over €300 million to €3.89 billion.
Milk volume for 2021 will be 6.2% higher than last year but, with increased prices to farmers, output value will surge by 22.7%, a €623.9 million increase to €3.38 billion.
Turning to crops, when all is said and done in 2021 production volume will 2% higher, while value output will be up 9.1% to €2.12 billion, an increase of around €178 million.
This is broken down as a 14.7% volume increase and a very handsome 45.7% output value increase for cereals, bringing the total cereal output value for 2021 to €421.9 million, an increase of €132.3 million.
Forage plants volume will be 1.7% higher than in 2020, while their value will increase by 5%, a rise of about €57 million to €1.2 billion.
Produce labelled by the CSO as ‘other crops’ will reduce in volume by 4.6% in 2021, and reduce in output value by 2.4%, a decrease of about €12 million to €498.3 million.
When all the above figures across the different sectors are taken together, the total value of farmers’ output in 2021 will be around €9.97 billion, an increase of roughly €1.06 billion.