Commentators on farming have been urged to read a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the value chain of the agri-food sector.

The publication today (Tuesday, April 27) of the CSO’s ‘Food and Agriculture: A Value Chain Analysis’ report has been welcomed by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), who said that critics of Irish agriculture should “read and examine” the report carefully.

Pat McCormack, the association’s president, said that the report “details beyond any doubt the foundational importance of Irish farming and agriculture to the national economy”.

This, McCormack said, was due to agriculture’s generation of export earnings; contribution to the national exchequer; and employment of over 150,000 people in mostly rural parts of the state.

He specifically drew attention to the contribution of the dairy and meat sectors.

“I really hope that all parties to the debate about Irish farming and our role in sustainable development can find the time to read this report,” McCormack commented.

He added: “We all need to move things forward on the basis of fact and a full ‘360 degree’ understanding of the enormous role that farming and food production plays in our society and economy.

“This report sets out that role in a factual and verifiable way and has to be the basis for further discussion. That’s why we urge interested parties and individuals to read it.

“Let’s recognise the importance of Irish agriculture – particularly livestock farming – and move forward from there,” the ICMSA president concluded.

The CSO’s report noted, among other points, that the agri-food industry was worth over €25 billion to the Irish economy in 2018.

Irish-owned firms produced €9.8 billion of this €25.7 billion, while €15.9 billion was produced by foreign-owned enterprises.

The largest output from Irish-owned food producing firms was dairy products at €3.4 billion, which is almost a third of domestic firms’ production of food and drink.