New Teagasc figures that establish the first financial performance baseline for organic farmers show that Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) payments of just over €10,000 made up one third of the average organic suckler farm's direct payments in 2024.

The figures were compiled from surveying 88 organic farmers and presented by Teagasc researcher Kevin Kilcline at the authority’s annual economic review and outlook for Irish agriculture.

OFS payments were larger on average than the average sampled suckler farm's BISS, CRISS and Eco Scheme payments combined, a figure which came to €9,265 for last year.

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The average organic suckler farm surveyed generated an income of €19,653 last year from a land base of 43ha, working out at €455/ha.

Organic cattle finishers' pillar one payments roughly equalled their average OFS payments of €13,407 and the farms surveyed saw incomes of €36,825 across an average farm size of 53ha, equating to an income of €690/ha.

Output figures

Market output figures of the organic farms sampled were €525/ha for sucklers and €990/ha for finishers.

These two organic cattle farming systems saw higher average family incomes than the suckler sector generally, with 2024 national farm survey (NFS) data putting the average suckler and finisher incomes across the whole sectors at a respective €13,800 and €18,200.

However, NFS farms were smaller on average than the organic farm surveyed by Teagasc, showing a narrower organic-conventional income gap on a per-area basis as conventional incomes at €432/ha on suckler farms and €558/ha for finishers.

Sheep, dairy and tillage

The average organic sheep farm income in 2024 was €44,225 from 76ha, leaving an average income of €579/ha.

These farms saw pillar one payments exceed the income generated by the average OFS payment of over €15,000 by around €2,500. Income from the marketplace brought in another €562/ha for sheep farmers.

The 2024 NFS average sheep income came to €27,300 for a smaller farm size of 49ha, equating to an income of €558/ha for the sector in general.

Dairy incomes were the highest across any of the organic sectors surveyed at an average of €53,964.

An average organic dairy farm size of 50ha gave an income of €718/ha in area terms, driven by market revenues of €2,783/ha.

The large sizes of the farms surveyed in dairy led the sector to have the highest average OFS payment of any enterprise at €17,618, with these farms receiving pillar one payments of a similar size in 2024.

NFS dairy farms reported incomes more than double those seen on organic farms at €108,000 or €1,557/ha.

Dairying having the highest income of any organic sub-sector last year was a result of the larger farm size, as tillage beat dairy marginally on an average-income-per-area basis.

Organic tillage incomes were reported by Teagasc as averaging €35,770 on a farm size of 50ha, equating to a €718/ha income.

Area again plays a role when comparing the fortunes of organic tillage farmers and the wider sector as reported in 2024 NFS figures.

While NFS tillage farms averaged incomes of €42,000, it was done over a larger farm area of 72ha, which takes the tillage NFS income average to €574/ha, behind the organic average on a per-area basis.