The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) Sheep Committee chair, Kevin Comiskey, has called for immediate action to support sheep farmers in the current input-costs crisis.
Due to the global impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Teagasc published a revision, this week, of its annual Situation and Outlook for 2022, which was released in December.
In the report, Teagasc economists warn that a drop in average family farm income is “now highly likely” in 2022 as output prices will fail to offset rising production costs.
The IFA’s Comiskey said the updated report should focus the mind of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, on the challenges faced by sheep farmers, and the need for immediate interventions to support the sector.
“Sheep farmers are not seeing any increase in market prices come through compared to last year, but are dealing first hand with the impact of feed, fertiliser and fuel price increases on their farms,” he said.
Sheep prices to-date this year are running below 2021 levels. The most recent Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) reported price of €7.19/kg is .5% below 2021 prices, he said.
The Teagasc report, he said, predicts production costs on sheep farms will increase by 30% this year, leading to a drop of 20% in family-farm income on these farms.
And, he added, that the sector is a vulnerable low-income sector dependent on direct payments for over 100% of family-farm incomes.
“Sheep farmers do not have the resources or the capacity in their income to take on the costs now associated with producing sheepmeat.
“There are also huge concerns among sheep farmers for the store lamb trade later this year.
He has called on Minister McConalogue and factories to come forward with a number of measures and commitments as a matter of urgency to ensure farmers can plan for the year ahead.