The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) highlight the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Budget.
IFA President Joe Healy said the CSO figures for farm income in 2018 confirm the severe impact the adverse weather and external political events had on farming last year.
Fall In Income
The IFA President said the significant fall in farm incomes underlines the importance of strong support for farmers in the next CAP.
“The headline figure showing a decrease of 16% was largely driven by a substantial hike of over €350 million on feed,” Healy explained.
“A combination of the late, wet Spring, Storm Emma, and the summer drought added significantly to costs on farms during 2018 and affected the bottom line for farmers.”
Healy added that the value of cattle farming fell by €100 million last year, another indicator of the severe pressure on livestock farmers’ incomes, mostly from the uncertainty caused by Brexit.
There has been no lift in the early part of this year, and immediate political action is needed, he claimed.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
