One in three farms are ‘economically vulnerable’
This was the main conclusion from a report analysing the viability of the farming sector published by Teagasc yesterday.
The report, based on the Teagasc National Farm Survey, found that 37% of farm businesses were economically viable in 2014. A further 31% of farms were only sustainable because of the presence of income earned outside of farming.
Almost one in three farm households were economically vulnerable as the farm business was not viable and there was no off-farm income present in the household.
Thia Hennessy, head of the Teagasc National Farm Survey and one of the report’s authors, said the economic viability of farming in general improved last year but this was almost entirely driven by the strong performance of the dairy sector.
“We are increasingly moving to a two-tier farm sector where in 2014 over 80% of dairy farm businesses were viable compared to less than one in five cattle farm businesses,” said Dr Hennessy.
Dr Hennessy said the viability of farming in regions such as the Border and the West, which are dominated by cattle and sheep farms, is of particular concern as fewer than one in five farm businesses are producing a profit that is sufficient to reward the labour and capital invested.
The report states that almost one third of farm households or 24,000 households nationally rely on off-farm income to support both the household and the non-viable farm business.
The report also showed that some regions seem to be recovering faster than others.
