Last year was difficult for a number of reasons. As the Deputy said, the weather was extremely poor and caused great difficulty for farmers. The market returns, especially for dairying, came under pressure for the first time in many years. The estimated drop in aggregate income was approximately 8.6% but that was after a number of good years, particularly the previous year, in which farmers' incomes were up very substantially in spite of the problems associated with BSE and foot and mouth disease. That was not the case in some other sectors of the economy, which fared very badly.
I am thankful that the weather was much better this spring. Markets appear to be a bit more balanced than they were last year. As the Deputy knows, An Bord Bainne produced its results in recent days, which were very good, and it looks forward to a better balance in international dairy markets.
Weanling and store prices are very firm and the live trade has improved considerably. It is up by approximately 139% when one compares the first five months of this year with the first five months of last year. There is a very strong trade for weanlings going to continental Europe and for adult cattle going to the Lebanon. That is creating competition in the market, which is helpful. If the weather continues to be good, I expect a substantial improvement in the agriculture industry in the autumn. Farmers and their co-operatives have a responsibility to ensure that they get the best return from the marketplace and that they have the most efficient operation possible.
In dairy, for example, some farmers can produce milk for 40 to 45 cent per gallon, but for others the cost is 75 to 80 cent per gallon, so neither they nor Deputy Breen can blame the Minister of the day for all the problems in farming and in agriculture. I regret that farmers have withdrawn from processing in the beef industry. They were substantially involved up to a decade ago and they have withdrawn one after the other and left the private operators to undertake beef processing. Oganisations such as Kerry Co-op, Golden Vale, Glanbia or Avonmore, as it was then, and Cork Marts IMP were all co-operative which were farmer controlled, but none of them is involved now. We need to be competitive and I expect that this year, not because of anything I do but because of the influence of the weather, will have a big impact on improving the position of farmers for the coming year.