Farmers spent average of €8,194 on contractor services in 2025
The growth in agricultural contractor services has helped to reduce direct machinery ownership costs on many Irish farms, according to the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI).
The comments come as the association published its analysis of Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) 2025 which reported a ten-year overhead machinery cost decline of almost 23%.
The NFS 2025 shows an average increase in spending on agricultural contractor services (machinery hire) of €331 per farm or 4.21%.
The report found that Irish farmers spent an average of €8,194 on agricultural contractor services during 2025.
Contractor services
Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, managing director of the FCI, said the increase in the use of agricultural contractor services "results in an annual sector turnover of over €1.1 billion".
"These latest figures show that spending by Irish farmers on agricultural contractor services has increased 96% since 2015, from €4,162 to €8,194 per farm, averaged across all farm enterprises," she added.
| Year | 2015 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Spend on agri contractor services (Hire of machinery) | €4,162 | €8,194 |
| Total direct costs | €29,176 | €48,716 |
| Contractor charges as a percentage of total direct farm costs | 14.27% | 16.82% |
| Total value of agri contractor services across 135,000 Irish farms | €561,870,000 | €1,101,190,000 |
| Machinery depreciation costs | €4,188 | €5,553 |
| Machinery operational costs | €5,677 | €6,623 |
| Total machinery overhead costs on Irish farms | €9,865 | €12,176 |
| Total overhead costs on Irish farms | €24,637 | €39,384 |
| Machinery as a percentage of total overhead farm costs | 40.04% | 30.92% |
During this 10-year period, agricultural contractor services as a percentage of total direct costs on farms increased from 14.27% to 16.82%, an increase of 17.87%.
The FCI said "this confirms the growing and vital role of agricultural contractors in supporting the Irish agricultural sector".
The FCI analysis also shows that while total machinery overhead costs on Irish farms increased by 23% between 2015 and 2025, machinery costs as a percentage of overall overhead costs on Irish farms fell from 40.04% to 30.92%.
"This is an overhead machinery cost decline of almost 23% has come at a time when the cost-effective role of agricultural contractor services has helped to reduce direct machinery ownership costs on many Irish farms," Gleeson Hanrahan added.
