The combined sustainability parameters for Irish tillage farms in 2023 have recently been published by Teagasc.
They reflect all aspects of viability within the crops sector: Economic, environmental and social.
The analysis is contained within the 2023 National Farm Survey: 2023 Sustainability Report.
The average gross output and gross margin per hectare for tillage farms in 2023 was €2,171 and €1,154 respectively in 2023. This translates to 34% of tillage farm businesses being economically viable.
However, these top line economic figures do not reflect the many other factors that contribute to the overall sustainability equation that characterises Irish tillage.
Where environmental issues are concerned, the average tillage farm produced 145.8t CO2 equivalent of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023.
However, only 26.4% of GHG emissions on these farms were generated from crop production.
Despite being specialised in crop production, 57.4% of tillage farm emissions were from cattle present on these farms, with a further 16.2% from sheep.
Irish tillage farms
The average specialist tillage farm had agricultural GHG emissions of 1.9t CO2 equivalent per hectare in 2023.
Emissions per hectare tended to be lower for the better performing economic cohorts.
Specialist tillage farms on average produced 0.21t of energy-based GHG emissions per hectare in 2023.
Significantly, higher emissions per hectare were associated with higher economic performance.
Meanwhile, the average specialist tillage farm emitted 10.7kg of ammonia per hectare in 2023. The average nitrogen (N) surplus was 45.8kg/ha. However, there was a large range in the farm results recorded.
Across all tillage farms, the average N use efficiency (NUE) was 65.7%
Allied to this, average phosphorous (P) balance across all tillage farms was 2.1kg/ha. But, again, there was a large range of results around these group averages.
Better farms, in economic terms, tended to have slightly lower P balances. P use efficiency (PUE) averaged 93.8% across all tillage farms. This fugure tended to be tended to be higher across the top performing groups.
The social sustainability indicators for the tillage sector make particularly interesting reading.
The Teagasc report indicates that 25% of tillage farm households are considered economically vulnerable.
A total of 71% of tillage farmers had received some level of formal agricultural education or training. This rate is higher for the better performing farms economically.
Overall, 17% of tillage farms were identified as being at risk of isolation (i.e. where the farm operator lived alone).
Finally, innovation indicators examined for tillage farms included membership of a discussion group and growing of a break crop.
The Teagasc sustainability report indicates that, on average, 22% of tillage farms were in discussion groups.
A similar percentage of surveyed farmers grew break crops in 2023.