The complex nature of Teagasc’s projected increase in tillage farm incomes
Teagasc has projected a rise in tillage incomes of 12% to €43,000, year-on-year, as part of its updated farm performance review.
Significantly, much of the projected increase in income will come from subsidiary livestock enterprises, which have benefited from higher prices in 2025.
So the question arises: does this figure skew the income that will be generated on the almost 5,000 Irish tillage farms on which crops are grown exclusively?
In the first instance, these tillage farms will be fully exposed to the 10% year-on-year decrease in cereal prices that has been recorded
A Teagasc spokesperson told Agriland : “We include non-tillage-related farm activity on tillage farms since it represents the reality of what Irish tillage farmers do.
"The definition of a tillage farm is determined by the European Commission Farm Accountancy Data Network regulations.”
“So when the farm's main output is tillage, it is defined as a tillage farm. That means that many tillage farms are not 100% tillage, but they still form part of the tillage farm population.
“In like manner, the tillage area on these farms is included in other tillage statistics, such as the tillage area, production, and yield reported by the Central Statistics Office.”
Production increase
The Teagasc review of the tillage sector confirms that while cereal prices are expected to be down, year-on-year, production is expected to increase, as previously highlighted in the preliminary Teagasc Harvest Report.
Much of this increase in production can be attributed to the higher winter cereal area in 2024/25 compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, the organisation’s income review also confirms that some input items have increased in price.
It also reflects what is happening in terms of the gross margins per hectare generated across the different cropping systems, where quite significant variations in performance are now evident.
For example, winter wheat and barley crops are forecast to outperform 2024 figures.
But the majority of other cereal crops are forecast to return a lower gross margin than in 2024.
The spokesperson added: “So the end story is: the forecast increase in income on tillage farms in 2025 is due in a large part to the very strong performance of the cattle enterprise on these farms.
“But the average income on tillage farms forecast for 2025 is still below the previous five-year average.”
