The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Dairy Committee chair Stephen Arthur has said that dairy farmers must be paid for environmental actions on their farms.
The comments come as the Teagasc National Farm Survey showed that the average income for Irish dairy farmers stood at just under €49,500 in 2023, a fall of 69% or €108,000 when compared with the previous year.
Arthur said that the findings were “hugely concerning” and “point to an impending cashflow crisis in the sector”.
Analysis from Teagasc has also revealed that total production costs on Irish dairy farms are up by 56% since 2015.
Dairy farmers
Stephen Arthur said that the average family farm income (FFI) on dairy farms is now back to 2012 levels with the average income per unpaid labour unit of €34,261, which is around 30% below the average industrial wage.
“While the weather conditions did contribute somewhat to this reduction in income, the reality is that the increased costs imposed on Irish dairy farmers are due mainly to the increased costs associated with the so-called sustainability measures.
“Policy is driving Ireland’s most profitable farming sector towards financial ruin,” he said.
The IFA chair said that farmers have invested over €1.3 billion in environmental measures on their farms since the abolition of milk quotas.
“To date, they [dairy farmers] have absorbed the costs of compliance being asked of them due to increased government regulation and higher requirements under the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS), but this has to change.
“Dairy farmers must now be paid for their actions and measures undertaken at farm level like in other European countries. They can no longer solely carry these costs.
“On top of this, we are facing the ongoing uncertainty regarding the future of the nitrates derogation, which is critical for the future of the sector,” he said.
Arthur again urged the government to “do everything in their power” to protect Ireland’s derogation.
He added that Bord Bia and dairy processors must stop passing on compliance costs without first doing a “full analysis of the potential cost they will put on farmers”.
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