Output, Input & Income in Agriculture provides estimates of major items of agricultural accounts. The estimates are based on data from a combination of sources including administrative data, industry sources and surveys conducted by CSO and Teagasc.
The Agricultural Price Indices comprise of the index of producer prices of agricultural products (the Output Price Index) and the index of purchase prices of the means of agricultural production (the Input Price Index). The Output Price Index is based on the sales of agricultural products and the Input Price Index is based on the purchases of the means of agricultural production by agricultural producers.
This chapter also presents estimates of Agricultural Land Prices for both arable land and permanent grassland per acre for the first time.
| X-axis label | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goods Output | 6.542 | 7.346 | 6.969 | 7.138 | 7.064 | 8.056 |
| Intermediate Consumption | 5.054 | 5.67 | 5.12 | 4.938 | 5.075 | 5.253 |
| Net Subsidies | 1.654 | 1.517 | 1.492 | 1.333 | 1.608 | 1.637 |
| Operating Surplus | 2.281 | 2.356 | 2.441 | 2.587 | 2.641 | 3.457 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Agricultural goods output at producer prices in 2017 has amounted to €8,056m, an increase of €992m or 14.0% on 2016 figure.
Milk was the largest contributor to the growth in output. Milk output increased by €801m or 44.7%, with prices up by 32.6% and the volume of production up by 9.0%. Milk accounted for 32.2% of total goods output in 2017. Among other products cattle output increased by 3.2% or €72m to reach €2,361m, and pig output by 10.8% to reach €516m.
Total intermediate consumption was 3.5% higher than in 2016 and amounted to €5,253m. The main driver of the change was the increase in expenditure on retail feeding stuffs by 8.1% or €100m, mainly due to increased volume of consumption. Retail feeding stuffs accounted for 25.3% of total current expenditure.
The Regional Accounts for Agriculture provides a regional breakdown of figures already published at State level in the final estimate of the Output, Input and Income in Agriculture. They are prepared using similar methodology and definitions of the accounts items.
The NUTS 2 regional classifications are based on the common classification of territorial units for statistics established by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2066 of 2016 (NUTS - Nomenclature of Territorial Units).
In 2017, the Northern and Western region, net subsidies accounted for 64.2% of agricultural income. Just over 50% of national sheep output originated from the Northern and Western region.
In the Southern region, net subsidies accounted for 37.9% of agricultural income in 2017. Over half (51.8%) of all expenses on the items of intermediate consumption were incurred by the farms in the Southern region. The Southern region accounted for 54.5% of goods output at producer prices by Irish agriculture and 72% of total milk output.
In the Eastern and Midland region, net subsidies amounted to 52.8% of agricultural income for 2017 and accounted for 47.7% of cereal and 56.9% of potatoes output of the country.
Interactive table: StatBank link
| Table 24.5 Agricultural output price index | ||||
| Base year 2015=100 | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Cattle | 90.4 | 100.0 | 93.0 | 94.8 |
| Sheep | 98.8 | 100.0 | 99.9 | 99.6 |
| Pigs | 109.4 | 100.0 | 102.6 | 110.4 |
| Poultry | 101.2 | 100.0 | 99.5 | 99.2 |
| Milk | 128.6 | 100.0 | 91.0 | 121.3 |
| Cereals | 105.8 | 100.0 | 101.3 | 101.9 |
| Potatoes | 87.5 | 100.0 | 128.5 | 117.2 |
| Vegetables | 99.9 | 100.0 | 100.3 | 100.2 |
| Total outputs | 106.8 | 100.0 | 95.1 | 106.5 |
| Source: CSO | ||||
Interactive table: StatBank link
The agricultural output price index increased by 11.9% in 2017 when compared to 2016, while remaining 6.5% higher than the base year of 2015.
Milk and cattle prices rose 33.2% and 1.8% respectively in 2017 compared to 2016. Milk prices were 21.3% higher in 2017 than in the base year of 2015, while cattle prices had dropped 5.3% over the same period.
| Table 24.6 Agricultural input price index | ||||
| Base year 2015=100 | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Feeding stuffs | 107.7 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.6 |
| Fertilisers | 99.4 | 100.0 | 86.2 | 81.5 |
| Seeds | 104.2 | 100.0 | 98.5 | 98.5 |
| Energy (including electricity) | 112.7 | 100.0 | 91.9 | 97.8 |
| Plant protection products | 100.0 | 100.0 | 102.3 | 103.1 |
| Veterinary expenses | 99.2 | 100.0 | 101.9 | 102.1 |
| Maintenance of materials and buildings | 100.2 | 100.0 | 100.7 | 101.1 |
| Other goods and services | 95.5 | 100.0 | 104.4 | 105.3 |
| Total inputs | 103.6 | 100.0 | 97.9 | 98.2 |
| Source: CSO | ||||
Interactive table: StatBank link
The agricultural input price index increased by 0.4% in 2017 when compared to 2016. At 98.2, it was 1.8% lower than in the base year of 2015.
In particular, fertiliser prices decreased by 5.5% between 2016 and 2017, while energy prices rose by 6.4% over the same period. Compared to the base year of 2015, fertilisers and energy were respectively 18.5% and 2.2% lower in 2017.
| Total outputs | Total inputs | |
| 2014 | 106.844 | 103.6 |
| 2015 | 100 | 100 |
| 2016 | 95.119 | 97.85 |
| 2017 | 106.458 | 98.219 |
| Table 24.7 Agricultural land prices | |||||
| Year | |||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016¹ | |||
| Median price in Ireland | €/ac | 6,760 | 6,647 | 6,366 | |
| Mean price in Ireland | €/ac | 6,594 | 5,965 | 5,689 | |
| Number of transactions of agricultural land in Ireland | 3,097 | 2,656 | 1,719 | ||
| Volume of transactions of agricultural land in Ireland | Acres | 56,273 | 53,861 | 33,982 | |
| Value of transactions of agricultural land in Ireland | €million | 371.060 | 321.264 | 193.312 | |
| ¹2016 Agricultural land prices are subject to revision | |||||
| Source: CSO | |||||
The median price of land in Ireland in 2016 was €6,366 per acre based on 1,719 transactions. These transactions totalled a value of €193.3 million for 33,982 acres of agricultural land.
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