The cost of keeping a ewe
The recently published National Farm Survey Mid-Season Lowland Lamb Enterprise Factsheet 2024 from the Agricultural Economics and Farm Surveys Department laid bare the costs and returns of sheep farming in 2024.
Delving into detail on the financial returns obtained from sheep production in 2024, one interesting figure presented was the total production costs associated with keeping a ewe.
Based on data from 72 farms and representative of 8,599 farms nationally, the National Farm Survey team report that total production costs associated with keeping a ewe in 2024 were €166/ewe. Although a hefty figure, its actually down 6% on year earlier levels. Responsible for this figure is total direct costs of €92/ewe and total fixed costs of €74/ewe, the NFS factsheet shows.
As to the overall financial performance of sheep farms, the NFS factsheet states: ‘Following a decline in margins in previous two years, a substantial increase in margins occurred in 2024. In addition to an 96% increase in coupled payments, higher output prices led to an increase in the value of gross output.’
In terms of the latter, gross output increased by 19% to €1,580/ha while, at the same time, total direct costs – which include concentrate, pasture and forage, and other variable costs – declined by 1% to €638/ha.
Consequently, as a result of higher output and lower direct costs, gross margins on lowland mid-season lambing flocks were recorded at an average of €942/ha. Once fixed costs were accounted for – declining by 9% on the year previous – net margins on such farms increased from €126/ha to €434/ha – an increase of 245%.
Back to a per ewe basis, the National Farm Survey factsheet points to a net margin of €64/ewe in 2024 – up from €17/ewe in 2023 – and putting the average margin earned in 2024 at almost double the next highest margin earned which was recorded in 2021.