On 24 February 2005 the CSO published the revised output, input and income statement for agriculture, which reports a 3% increase in aggregate farm income in 2004 compared with a 2.2% increase in inflation in the same year. The 3% increase in incomes should be viewed positively when account is taken of the fact that a substantial amount of payments on 2004 premia entitlements will be paid in 2005 in conjunction with the single farm payment. These include a 40% balancing payment due on livestock premia compared with 20% in the previous four years.
In 2004 over €1.6 billion was paid by my Department to the farming sector in direct payments accounting for 74% of aggregate farm income.
The value of the cattle, sheep and pigs sectors increased by 8.3%, 6.1% and 6.2% respectively. These improvements reflect continuing positive trading conditions on EU markets for beef with consumption exceeding production, good national and international demand for sheepmeat and strong pig prices.