Disappointment at drop of €1,500 in farmers’ estimated average income

FARMERS have been surprised to see their estimated €17,500 average annual salary reduced to €16,000 due to a disparity between industry calculations from December to February.

IFA president John Bryan expressed “grave disappointment” at the huge disparity in yesterday’s CSO farm income figures compared to the provisional figures released last December.

At the time, the CSO showed a 46% increase in farm incomes for 2010 but this figure has been revised down to 31.5%.