IFA Analysis Shows 73% Increase in Costs at Farm Level in Last Seven Years

IFA Director of Policy Tadhg Buckley has launched the findings of a report into the effects of recent world events such as the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine on cost over the past seven years for the farming sector in Ireland.  

According to this report the most severely impacted sectors were dairy and tillage which have had costs rise by 86% and 106% respectively. Overall costs in the farming sector have risen by a considerable amount with a 73% increase across all sectors.  

Coupled with these exponential increases in costs, farm incomes have also seen a drop of 34% across the same time frame. This is a great cause for concern for farmers who are struggling with decreasing incomes against unsustainable costs.  

“Our farming sector has to compete in a global market while operating in a very high-cost economy. We also have much tighter and constantly increasing regulation. It is not sustainable,” Mr. Buckley warned.

IFA President Francie Gorman stressed the importance of addressing rising costs for farmers.  

“While the increases reflect inflationary pressures, they also reflect higher compliance costs due to ongoing increases in regulations,” he said. 

Dry Stock sectors have also been badly affected by cost escalations because they experience low levels of income. These two elements coupled together could prove detrimental for this sector.  

“While costs have increased, turnover or total revenue has not kept pace which is one of the core reasons for the decline in income. Reduced output price is not the only reason for the reduction in turnover. Increasing regulatory requirements, which is reducing farmer productivity, is also leading to lower turnover,” said the IFA President.  

The report highlights the urgent need for the Government to consider greater support for the vulnerable sectors in agriculture to be included in Budget 2025. It has also been stressed by the IFA that Budget 2025 schemes designed to support small businesses must include the farming sector.  

Finally, the IFA criticised the 2024 Increased Cost of Business scheme which was part of the Budget that year. This aimed to lessen the growing cost of business for small businesses, however the farming sector was excluded even though farmers incurred the same level of cost increases as other businesses.