Collapsing Incomes & Soaring Costs Hit Dairy Sector – IFA

IFA Dairy chair Stephen Arthur has expressed concern at the 69% drop in dairy incomes over the past 12 months which was documented in the 2023 Teagasc National Farm Survey. Analysis from Teagasc has also shown that costs for dairy farmers have risen by 56% since 2015. 

 Dairy chair Stephen Arthur said: “While weather conditions did contribute somewhat to this reduction in income, the reality is that the increased costs imposed on dairy farmers are due mainly to so-called sustainability measures. Policy is driving Ireland’s most profitable farming sector towards financial ruin.”   

“Since the abolition of milk quotas, dairy farmers have invested more than €1.3bn in environmental measures on their farms.  To date, they have absorbed the costs of compliance being asked of them due to increased Government regulation and higher requirements under the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme, but this has to change.  Dairy farmers must now be paid for their actions and measures undertaken at farm level, like in other European countries. They can no longer solely carry these costs. On top of this, we are facing ongoing uncertainty regarding the future of the Nitrates derogation, which is critical for the future of the sector.”  

To conclude Mr. Arthur said “it’s critical that the Government does everything in their power to protect our derogation. Both Bord Bia and processors need to stop passing on compliance costs to dairy farmers without first doing a full analysis of the potential cost they will put on farmers who, unlike others, have nobody to pass these costs onto.”