Here you will find some relevant industry news and a selection of recent News Releases we have issued for clients.We have also listed hundreds of Irish, British and European Agri Food, Beverage, Environment & Forestry Events scheduled in 20 plus countries.

If you are organising an event or know of a major show or conference scheduled over the next three years please let us know and we will consider listing  it free of charge on our website. We welcome feedback so please send us an  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .Please click on year underlined to access list of events that may interest to you.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to get your event listed.

Irish Farmers Dependant on Single Farm Payment in 2009

Last year Irish farmers received about €1.8 Billion in direct payments and this accounted for two thirds to three quarters of their income. The Single Farm Payment was the main contributor at €1.2 Billion. However the average farm income was only €12,000 so without these direct payments most farmers would have been in dire financial straits.

However Professor Gerry Boyle, Director of Teagasc points out that the objectives of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)   are to increase productivity, to ensure a fair standard of living for farmers, to stabilize markets & to assure the availability of supplies for consumers at reasonable prices. So taxpayers are benefitting from low prices for high quality food.

Direct Costs Falling in 2010

So how will 2010 compare with 2009 which is the worst year farmers & Agribusiness have had as measured by the fall in farm incomes (since records began in 1973). The good news is that total direct costs are predicted by Teagasc to fall by 9-12%. Any increased costs are likely to come from higher fuel prices & the Carbon Tax.

The biggest drop will be in fertiliser prices (-23%) and seed prices (-18%). This will be a great help to grassland and tillage farmers. Farmers are therefore likely to use more fertilisers while lower prices prevail which should mean more grass and silage will be   available this year. It may also may slightly higher crop yields.

Animal feed prices peaked in 2008 at €285 per tonne. Since then they have fallen to €264 per tome in 2009 or by 17 % when you compare Oct 2008 with Oct 2009. Straights have fallen by 20% during the same period. For 2010 prices are expected to decline during the first half of the year and begin to rise again. Due to reduced prices, poor grass growth plus a fodder shortage feed sales have increased in 2010.

According to Teagasc farm incomes declined by 32% during 2009 and subsidies incredibly accounted for 147% of farm incomes. Not surprisingly farm investment fell from €2.1 Billion in 2008 to an estimated €380M in 2010. Due to major investments in recent years the interest on farm loans increased by 58% from 2005 to 2008.

Pig Industry –Uncertain Future

Due to EU environmental & animal welfare regulations Irish farmers need to invest significant sums in upgrading their pig housing & equipment. To do this Teagasc reckon the margin over feed needs to be well over 50c per Kg to give a minimum return on investment & to finance unit upgrades. The average for 2009 was 50.4 and for 2005-2009 it was only 47.0 c/Kg

Not surprisingly between 2003 and 2009 the no. of commercial pig units fell from 505 to 429 (15 %) while the no. of sows fell from 157,409 to 148,700 (-5.5%). Teagasc are forecasting a reduced global supply during 2010 and increased demand from China. Producers covered their costs in 2009 despite the Dioxin crisis however 2010 began with significant losses however pig prices should improve later in the year.

Brighter Future for Milk Producers in 2010

Between 2006 and 2008 milk production costs increase from 20 to 25 cents per litre (cpl).However during 2009 costs fell by 6% overall and are expected to fall by a further 2% in 2010 to 23.2 cpl which is good news for dairy farmers who have been hammered by low milk prices. During 2009 milk prices fell by 30% from approx. 32 cpl to only 23 cpl (incl. VAT).

The net result was that the very best milk producers were doing well to break even & high cost operators were recording significant negative net margins. However world consumption is recovering during 2010, global production is slowing so Teagasc are predicting that Irish milk prices will increase by 10-20% this year. This should mean that the average net margin will be 3 to 5 cpl.

Sheep Producers Doing Well in 2009/2010

Flock numbers have declined from 33,700 to 31.750 (-5.8%) while average flock size is now 97 ewes a drop of 4.9%. In the EU sheep numbers have also dropped and New Zealand lamb imports are static so lam prices have been increasing. As always the better producers have a bigger farm income. During 2008 the top third made over 200% more than the average sheep producer. This was because they had more lambs born, more lambs weaned and sold these lambs at a higher weight. Teagasc expect that gross margins will increase by 10% during 2010.

Cattle producers are not doing so we wll even with some reduction in production costs during 2009. Prices were well down however EU cow herd size is falling so better prices are expected during 2010.A buoyant export trade is also keeping the pressure on meat factories to pay better prices.