Farmers fear rising costs and bad weather

Farmers fear facing yet another year of uncertainty in 2025 with many fearing increasing costs, bad weather and increased red tape. That’s according to the Irish Farm Report 2025 conducted by ifac, the farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional services firm.

Irish farming is in a state of flux and there is frustration among farmers because of the increasing amount of bureaucracy involved in running a farm business on top of fundamental changes to farming practices, resulting in 60% naming rules and regulations as their top concern. This is closely followed by input prices (54%) and the weather (48%).

Yet overall, 51% of farmers are positive about the future - an improvement on last year (46%) but below the optimism levels of 2023 (56%). The report titled The Next Generation: The Changing Face of Agriculture features findings from ifac’s annual farmer survey, containing the views of over 1,035 Irish farmers (surveyed between October and November 2024).

For the fourth year in a row, input prices are a big concern; 1 in 2 farmers state input prices as their biggest financial challenge. The findings also point to other gaps in farmers’ financial planning and knowledge such as 70% not creating budgets, exposing them to financial risk.

And when it comes to prioritising pensions, 1 in 3 don’t know if their pension will provide sufficient income in retirement and 39% of tillage farmers have no private pension in place (compared with 22% of all farmers).

In addition, 40% of farmers are unfamiliar with the upcoming Auto-enrolment Pension Scheme and 32% of farmer employers are unaware.

Concerning the environment, 56% of farmers cite renewable energy technology as the most significant tech on farms, benefitting the environment.

The findings also show that employers are turning to word of mouth to find non-family employees, with 81% relying on word-of-mouth for recruitment. In addition, the report reveals a stigma surrounding mental health in the industry - 48% of farmers who suffered with depression in the past three years did not seek help, demonstrating the slow uptake by farmers of services and supports across rural communities.

Overall outlook: 67% intend to remain in farming over the next 5 years, with a further 24% unsure of their future plans

Finances: 1 in 4 have borrowed money in the past 12 months

Employment: 1 in 4 dairy farmers stated worker shortages as a key challenge

Environment: - 45% of beef farmers and 59% of sheep farmers would consider organic farming, compared to only 32% of tillage farmers - 64% of dairy farmers are in nitrates derogation -46% of dairy farmers expect any change in nitrates limits to have a serious impact on their business

Health & wellbeing: 1 in 2 farmers who suffered with depression are unsure about their farm’s future compared with 1 in 3 farmers overall

John Donoghue, Chief Executive of ifac said: “The farming industry is changing fast and with this change comes added pressures for Irish farmers, as highlighted in our seventh Irish Farm Report. While there are still many known unknowns that will greatly impact the sector such as the future of nitrates derogation, better information about farm performance and cash flow can relieve some of the pressure on farmers.

“Farming is one of the toughest businesses to be in and farmers need to be highly skilled in so many areas, including managing finances.”