Cash surplus halved for dairy farmers

Analysing the records of those farmers achieving the highest surplus cash per cow, Jim concluded that they not only had good milk receipts, but they also had significant income from animal sales, while maintaining good control on costs. 

High-performing dairy farmers were looking at a cash surplus after nine months of 2023 of €700 per cow, to pay for the farm family’s labour and drawings, in addition to tax and repayments.

“That’s coming back from about €1,550 as the equivalent figure 12 months ago, in 2022, so we’re less than half of last year’s figure in terms of surplus per cow”, said Teagasc dairy adviser Jim Moyles, when he discussed the financial performance of dairy farms in 2023 in a recent Dairy Edge podcast.