More than a third of Irish beef producers are not sure whether they will be engaged in agriculture in five years, according to a report published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

In Ireland, 38% of farmers are not sure whether they will be engaged in agriculture for five years, while 86% of all surveyed farmers do not have a clear plan.

Such data are presented in the Irish Farms Report for 2019, based on a survey of more than 2,000 farmers and a detailed analysis of the trends of 21,755 financial accounts on farms.

It was noted that 43% of farmers said their business was not viable enough to drive the next generation and continue. Over 80% of the surveyed farmers have an off-farm source of income for the household.

More than 95% of the surveyed farmers depend solely on the help of family members to work on the farm. And a quarter of farm households do not have a retirement plan for the farmer or his spouse.

The survey also showed that the average profit of a dairy farm decreased by 25% from 1,077 euros / ha in 2017 to 804 euros / ha, excluding EU subsidies in 2018. The average beef farm in 2018 lost 116 euros / ha excluding EU subsidies.

In 2018, feed costs due to adverse weather conditions were 30% higher for dairy farms and 40% for meat farms.