The average direct payment received per farm last year totaled €19,628 according to the Teagasc National Farm Survey 2023 published today (Tuesday, July 23).
The survey highlights that because of the “deterioration” in overall farm economics last year, in part because of ongoing high costs and poor weather conditions, direct payments accounted for a “larger share of average farm family income” in 2023.
According to Teagasc, the average family farm income in Ireland slumped by 57% in 2023 to just under €19,925 – down from €46,313 a year earlier.
Analysis suggests that some farmers were more heavily dependent on direct payments to maintain their farm businesses than others with cattle rearing farms in particular seeing 231% of their income coming from direct payments.
The average direct payment on cattle rearing farms in 2023 amounted to €17,137. In contrast, dairy farmers were less reliant on the contribution that direct payments made to their overall farm family incomes last year.
Direct Payments (DPs) Contribution of DPs to farm family incomes Dairy €21,667 44% Cattle Rearing €17,137 231% Cattle Other €16,505 112% Sheep €20,283 161% Tillage €33,052 154% All 19,628 99%
Direct payments
Pillar I payments – including Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Complimentary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) and Eco-Scheme payments – made up a larger proportion of the total direct payments received on dairy (73%) and tillage farms (65%).
But on drystock farms, Pillar I payments accounted for less than that – between 50% – 60% in 2023 – as a higher proportion of these farms were participating in schemes under Pillar II such as the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC), Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and the Fodder Support Scheme (FSS).
According to Teagasc scheme participation and payments under Pillar II “have made a real contribution to farm family income in recent years”.
It also highlighted in its latest report that one in five farms participated in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) and received an average payment of €3,700.
Meanwhile in the region of 80%of sheep farms participated in the Sheep Welfare scheme in 2023, and received an average payment of €1,500.
ACRES
In relation to agri-environmental schemes Teagasc highlighted that 25% of farmers were signed up to Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) last year and received an average payment of close to €5,000 under the scheme.
It also pointed to increased participation by farmers in the new Organic Farming Scheme which paid out an average payment of €13,000 to mostly sheep and tillage farmers.
The latest Teagasc report also identified “other significant payments” made to tillage farmers in recent years included the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) and Protein Schemes which paid out average farm payments of more than €5,000 in 2023.