The recently published National Farm Survey (NFS) for 2022 provides a detailed breakdown of how the tillage sector performed during this period, relative to the previous calendar year.
Where winter wheat and spring barley were concerned, the yields/ha achieved in 2022, compared to 2021 were mixed, with some yields higher and some yields lower than 2021.
Cereal yields based on the NFS enterprise results across all farms, were down by 1%, while winter wheat yields decreased by 6%.
While there was a slight decrease in yields recorded for the aforementioned crops in the data, cereal prices were much higher in 2022 compared to 2021, with the price received at farm gate 40% higher for spring barley and 43% higher for winter wheat.
Direct costs increased significantly for spring barley and winter wheat in 2022, with allocated fixed costs also increasing for both crops.
Some of the increase in the fixed costs allocated to the cereal crops is associated with the method in which fixed costs are allocated across enterprises.
This allocation across each enterprise is based on the proportion of gross output. In addition, the population of farmers growing spring barley in particular tend to be a heterogeneous group of farmers, involved in a variety of enterprises, which tend to experience volatility in fixed costs from one year to the next.
Given the change in output value, direct and fixed costs, the net margin on spring barley farms in 2022 was €459/ha, up from €447/ha in 2021.
The net margin for the winter wheat in 2022 was €1,193/ha, up from €740/ha in 2021 (excluding Basic Payment).
Total cost of production per ha in the top-performing spring barley group was 20% lower than the bottom performing spring barley producers.
Gross output per ha for the top half of spring barley farms was 22% higher than the bottom half. Overall, this results in a €965/ha difference in net margin per ha between the bottom and top performing spring barley farms.
In 2022, 21% of spring barley farms and no winter wheat farms (represented by the sample) produced a negative net margin, i.e., made a loss when allocated overhead costs were deducted from gross margins.
At the opposite end of the distribution, 29% of spring barley farms, and 75% of winter wheat farms earned a net margin of €750 or more in 2022.
Technical performance decreased in many of the measures examined in 2022 relative to 2021.
However, it is important to remember that these partial productivity indictors do not take cereal price and straw receipts into account.