The 2018 drought had a significant impact on the profitability of Irish dairy farms, according to a profit monitor from research firm Teagasc. Their figures show that profitability on an Irish dairy farm decreased by 2018% in 28.
The decrease of 28% is equivalent to a decrease of €648 per hectare. The research shows that the net profit has fallen sharply, despite the increase in milk production and feed use. According to Teagasc, this is mainly due to the extreme drought in the summer of 2018.
Buying extra feed
The drought also had a major impact on grass growth, forcing many Irish dairy farmers to purchase additional feed. These figures from Teagasc show that feed costs increased by an average of €2018 to €181 per cow over 412. It is striking that the dairy farms in Ireland have grown in one year; the number of cows increased by 5%.
Milk production has also increased (+10%). This was partly due to the fact that more concentrated feed was being fed. The dairy farmers in Ireland not only suffered from higher costs, but also from lower income. All in all, this resulted in a 28% drop in Irish dairy profits.
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
