Teagasc figures confirm the sad farming story

FOR anybody with an indirect interest in farming, the income figures released by Teagasc earlier this week made for very gloomy reading — but for those directly involved in the industry, it made for truly depressing reading.

The income statistics highlight once again that farmers have been left behind by the Celtic Tiger and have become victims rather than beneficiaries of the economic growth phenomenon of the past decade. Like the rest of us, the cost of living and the cost of doing business have increased dramatically for farmers over the past decade, but unlike the rest of us, farmers have had to live with downward pressure on most of what they produce.

In 2006, the average family farm income amounted to just €16,680. Within this, the average full-time farmer on a family farm earned an income of €34,486, while the average income for part-time farmers was just €7,899. Furthermore, the average family farm depended on the single farm payment for 98% of its income, and in 58% of all farms, either the farmer and or the farmer’s spouse, had an off-farm job.