Yields down but incomes up 18% on tillage farms in 2018

Tillage farmers were the only ones to report an annual increase in family farm income in 2018, with the average income standing at €42,678 on the 6,879 farmers who took part in the survey.

While incomes were up, harvest yields were down in 2018, mainly due to the challenging weather conditions, with spring crops particularly affected by late planting and adverse summer weather.

In 2018, average gross output increased on Irish tillage farms by 16% to €120,974. Teagasc attributes this to a combination of factors, with increased output value for wheat and straw in particular. Some farms also benefitted from the growth of forage crops.

In line with the other farm systems, costs increased on tillage farms in 2018, increasing by 14% overall to €78,319. This was due to both to increases in individual cost items and a slight increase in overall tillage area on NFS farms, which was up 2% to 37ha.

Direct costs increased by 16% year-on-year, with fertiliser the main component, up 16% to just under €12,000 on the average tillage farm.

Expenditure on purchased seed and crop protection totalled a similar amount, with the seed costs rising by 8% and the crop protection remaining unchanged compared to 2017.

As on other farms, expenditure on contracting charges rose strongly year-on-year, up 16%to €7,822 on average.

As on most systems in 2018, overhead costs also increased, rising 13% year-on-year. Looking at individual cost items, conacre rental costs were up by 21% for tillage farmers to €5,436 on average. Meanwhile, costs relating to fuel and electricity also increased, as did those relating to land improvement and depreciation.

Key tillage statistics 2018

In 2018, the average tillage farm size was up 1% on 2017, while hectares in cereals, cereal output and gross margins were also up.

On the average tillage farm 33ha, which is over half of all land area, was dedicated to cereals.