'Substantial fall in farm incomes disappointing', says Northern Ireland's Agriculture Minister
Northern Ireland’s Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir, has described the substantial fall in farm incomes for 2023 as “disappointing” but a “reflection of the fall in milk prices and the continued elevation of input costs”.
The DAERA Minister was commenting following the publication of the first (provisional) estimate for 2023 farm incomes, which indicate that the ‘Total Income from Farming’ (TIFF) in Northern Ireland fell by 44 per cent (47.8 per cent in real terms) from £609million in 2022 to £341million in 2023.
Total Gross Output for agriculture in Northern Ireland was seven per cent lower at £2.87 billion in 2023. There was a six per cent decrease in the value of output from the livestock sector, while field crops decreased by 21 per cent and horticulture decreased by 27 per cent.
Dairying remains the largest contributor to the total value of Gross Output at £892million in 2023; a decrease of 21 per cent between 2022 and 2023. The annual average farm-gate milk price decreased by 21 per cent to 35.1 pence per litre while the volume of raw milk produced in Northern Ireland decreased by 0.2 per cent to 2.5billion litres.
The output value of cattle was six per cent lower at £568million in 2023.
The total number of animals slaughtered decreased by 5.8 per cent in 2023, whereas the average carcase weights for clean and cull animals were 1.3 per cent and 2.3 per cent lower respectively. These changes resulted in the volume of meat produced being 7.1 per cent lower in 2023. The average producer price for finished clean cattle was £4.60 per kilogram in 2023 while the average producer price for cull animals was £3.24 per kilogram. These prices were 10 per cent and three per cent higher than their respective averages for 2022.
The value of output from sheep decreased by 0.5 per cent to £109million in 2023. The total number of sheep slaughtered increased by four per cent in 2023, whereas the average carcass weight decreased by two per cent to 22 kilograms. Volume of sheep meat produced increased two per cent in 2023. The average producer price increased by three per cent to £5.50 per kg.
All intensive sectors recorded an increase in their output. The value of output in the poultry sector increased by two per cent to £380 million in 2023 while the egg sector increased by 47 per cent to £223million. The value of pig output also increased by 15 per cent to £297million. The poultry sector recorded an eight per cent increase in its production volume for 2023, whereas the pigs and eggs sectors recorded a four per cent and 0.3 per cent decrease in their respective production volumes when compared with their previous year levels. Producer prices in the pigs and eggs sectors increased by 20 per cent and 43 per cent respectively, whereas, the producer price for poultry decreased by three per cent.
The total output value for field crops decreased by 21 per cent in 2023 to £86 million. This was due to decreases in both grain prices and yields in 2023. The value of output for cereals decreased by 37 per cent to £40 million whereas the value of output for potatoes increased by 15 per cent to £31 million. Output values for field crops are across a calendar year and include production from two harvests.
Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir, said it is “disappointing that the total income from farming figure for the industry as a whole decreased between 2022 and 2023 by 44 per cent”.
“This decrease reflects the reduced milk prices from the record high levels of the previous year and the continued elevation in input costs for the agriculture sector,” he continued
“Income estimates for specific farm types also show that, while decreases are expected for cereals, dairy and mixed farms between 2022 and 2023, there are small increases expected for cattle and sheep farms and more substantial increases for pig farms because of the rise in pigmeat prices during 2023.
“Fluctuating market conditions is not a new problem, but it remains a very difficult issue for farmers to address. These fluctuations are mainly due to price influences across world markets which are very much outside our control.
“Consequently, my department focuses effort on helping farmers mitigate cost and price pressures by improving their productivity and resilience, while also addressing their environmental sustainability levels. These are the goals of our new farm support and development programme. CAFRE continues to offer relevant training and support to farmers in pursuit of these policy objectives,” Mr Muir added.