Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue should focus his mind on sheep farmers in light of Teagasc’s findings that their incomes could fall by as much as 20% in 2022, says the IFA.

IFA sheep committee chair Kevin Comiskey said the minister needs to act immediately to support sheep farmers in the current input costs crisis.

Comiskey said: “Sheep farmers are not seeing any increase in market prices coming through compared to last year, but are dealing first hand with the impact of feed, fertiliser and fuel price increases on their farms.”

The IFA sheep chair warned that the updates to the Teagasc Situation and Outlook for Agriculture in 2022 report suggest production costs on sheep farms will increase by 30% this year and said meanwhile, “sheep prices to-date this year are running below 2021 levels”.

Low-income sector

Comiskey said the sheep sector is a vulnerable low-income sector dependent on direct payments for over 100% of family farm income and that because of this, sheep farmers do not have the resources or the capacity in their income to take on the costs now associated with producing sheepmeat.

The store lamb trade later in the year is a particular area which many sheep farmers are concerned about, according to the Leitrim farmer.

Comiskey has called on Minister McConalogue and sheep factories to come forward with a number of measures and commitments as a matter of urgency to ensure sheep farmers can plan for the year ahead.

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Teagasc warns of ‘continued financial concerns’ for farmers