The Central Statistics Office (CSO) regional accounts for agriculture show that in 2018, EU farm payments (net subsidies) accounted for 59.3% of farm income (operating surplus) in Ireland. This is up from 47.3% in 2017.

In 2018, farm incomes were at €2,849.2m, with €1,690.2m of this figure coming from subsidies.

Farmers in the the midlands and west are most reliant on net subsidies, with EU payments making up 103.2% and 87.9% of farm income, respectively.

The areas with the lowest reliance on subsidies were the southwest (43.7%), the southeast (45.9%) and Dublin and the mideast area (45.6%).

Farming output

The southwest and midwest regions made the largest contributions of all regions to agricultural output, accounting for 21.1% and 17.0% of the national total respectively.

The west and border regions had the highest dependency on livestock, with 55.8% and 50.4% of their output derived from livestock, respectively.

The border and the west regions together produce just over half of the country's sheep at 50.9%, which remains largely unchanged from 2017 figures.

The southwest produced 32.7% of national milk output, with milk production accounting for 45.8% of the region’s agricultural output.

Crops

Almost a quarter (22.7%) of all crops were produced in the Dublin and mideast region, with the southeast accounting for a further 18.2%. At a national level, crop production accounted for 24.2% of agricultural output.

The CSO calculates the agricultural operating surplus as the income left after inputs, employees and investment amortisation are paid for. Net subsidies consist of farm payments net of taxes paid by farmers.

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