The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has released the Statistical Review of Northern Ireland Agriculture, 2023, which indicates a 44% fall in Northern Ireland’s total income from farming.
The report, which is the 31st of its kind and based on data collected from 270 farms participating in the annual Farm Business Survey, serves as the main compilation of data from the region’s agri-food sector, which enables comparisons to be drawn between previous years.
Total income from farming
The report finds a reduction in total income from farming (TIFF), which measures the return on the labour, management input and capital investment of farmers, partners, directors, as well as their spouses and other family members engaged in farm work.
TIFF decreased by 44% from £609 million in 2022 to £341 million in 2023, which is 14% lower than the TIFF average for the last 20 years, with inflation taken into account.
Last year’s low milk prices, down 21.3% from 2022, were cited as the primary reason for the reduction in total income from farming.
Gross inputs for the agri-sector was valued at £2.17 billion in 2023, down .4% from 2022, which can be accredited to the 42.4% reduction in fertiliser costs and a 9.7% reduction in machinery fuel costs.
In 2023, the total cost of fertiliser purchases fell by 42.8% to £105 million, while the total cost of purchased feedstuffs increased by 4.9% to £1.2 billion, with the average price of feedstuffs valued at £411/t.
The total cost of borrowings in the agriculture sector also increased by 47.7% to £90.3 million in 2023.
52,676 people were employed in the agriculture sector in 2023, which is an increase of 1.8% from 2022, while farmers, spouses and business partners accounted for 77% of the total agricultural labour force.
The total cost of labour rose by 22.4% from £84 million in 2022 to £103 million in 2023, according to the report, which also found that there were 26,131 active farm businesses in Northern Ireland in June 2023.
Animal health & welfare
The report indicated that there have been no cases of BSE (mad cow disease) since 2012, while 2,199 new herds were affected by tb in Northern Ireland in 2023, compared to 2,253 herds in 2022.
The veterinary service carried out 636 on-farm welfare inspections in 2023, with 81% of targeted visits and 100% of random visits found to be fully compliant with legislation when conducted.
The report found that just two farm holders were disqualified by the courts as a result of animal welfare breaches in 2023.
Subsidies
Total direct payments to farmers remained relatively stable at £304.1 million in 2023, £400,000 less than 2022’s value.
Total capital grants to farmers increased by 10.3% to £13.2 million in 2023, predominantly due to the rise in grants acquired under the Environmental Farming Scheme, which rose from £3.6 million in 2022 to £5.3 million in 2023.
In addition to this, animal disease compensation payments to farmers increased by 7.2%, or £2.3 million, to £34.8 million in 2023.
Investment
Gross annual capital investment increased by 1.9%, or £6.3 million, in 2023 to £348 million, which includes plant and machinery, vehicles and building and construction work.
Output per sector in 2023
- Total output value of cattle and calves decreased by 6.0% to £568 million from £604.9 million;
- Total output value of dairy decreased by 21.5% to £892 million;
- The average gross milk price (before deducting transport costs) decreased by 21.3%, at 35p/l;
- Total output value of sheep and lambs decreased by 0.5% to £109 million;
- Total output value of pigs increased by 14.8% to £297 million;
- Total output value of poultry increased by 2% to £380 million;
- Total output value of eggs increased by 47.5% to £223 million;
- Total output value of potatoes output rose by 14.8% to just under £31 million;
- Total output value for barley, wheat and oats decreased by 40%, 35.4% and 15.6% respectively, to £24.4 million, £13.2 million, and £2.8 million (£40.5 million in total);
- Total output value of horticultural output decreased by 27.3% to £70 million.
77% of land in Northern Ireland is used for agriculture, in comparison to to 60% in the Republic of Ireland and 70% in the rest of the UK, while the average sized farm in NI is 39.9ha, which is lower than the average 81.9ha sized farm in the rest of the UK.
