Agriculture output boosted by 17% rise in value of milk
Preliminary estimates for 2024 from the CSO show milk prices rose to €4.1bn while the value of cattle grew by 2% or an increase of €51m to an overall value of €3.1bn. Picture: iStock
Ireland’s agricultural output jumped by €928m last year to €12.2bn, driven by a 17% rise in the value of milk.
Preliminary estimates for 2024 from the CSO show milk prices rose to €4.1bn while the value of cattle grew by 2% or an increase of €51m to an overall value of €3.1bn despite a decrease of 3% in volume.
Mairead Griffin, CSO statistician in agricultural accounts and production section, said: “With milk accounting for one-third of the value of agricultural output at basic prices and cattle a further 25%, changes in the price of these two outputs have a significant impact on agricultural incomes.”
The total value of livestock rose by 4% or €176m to €4.7bn. Upward trends were seen in all livestock prices except for pigs — with the largest increases occurring for sheep and horses.
Pigs saw a fall of 1% in prices, which was offset by a 7% increase in volume. As a result, the value of pigs grew by €40m to a total of €708m.
Sheep prices rose by 18% last year but contributed lower volumes. Despite this, their value increased by 14% or €49m to €394m.
The value of horses rose by €31m to an overall value of €336m. This was due to prices increasing by 8% and volumes also growing by 2%.
Higher volumes also saw the value of poultry increase by 2% or €5m, to a total value of €228m.
On the topic of crops, Ms Griffin said: “The value of crops was up by 5% [+€127m] to €2.6bn, but this is expected to rise further when updated data on all crops becomes available ahead of the publication of our final estimates for 2024 in June. Cereals increased by 10% [+€34m] to €378m, while other crops grew by 9% [+€63m] to €736m.”
In regards to inputs, the intermediate consumption costs are estimated to have dropped by 4% (€274m), to €7.5bn. However, these figures are currently based on limited and incomplete data with many costs “still outstanding” for 2024.
The preliminary estimate of agricultural operating surplus for 2024 shows it increased by 46% (+€1.3bn), to €4.3bn.
Fertiliser prices saw a drop of 29% combined with volumes increasing by 4% with their cost decreasing by €216m, resulting in an overall value of €601m.
