CAP is the real bellwether

Things are not as bad as farmers thought, according to the National Farm Survey 2012. But they were never great, and this statistical exercise illustrates, year after year, that a huge number of farmers are kept going by direct payments from the EU.

This survey, by Teagasc experts, of 1,000 farms, shows that the financial reward to the families that work on the average farm fell by 15% in 2012, to €25,483. That was 10% ahead of the 2010 figure.

Incomes in 2012 are the second highest on record since 2005, and high relative to the previous seven years, despite being 15% lower than 2011.