GROFarmS – Economics

Understanding how commercial organic farm sustainability and resilience

A primary objective of GROFarmS is to complement experimental research with evidence on the sustainability performance of commercial organic farms. Through the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS), the project is developing a comprehensive technical, financial, environmental and socioeconomic evidence base for Irish organic farming.

This is important because the rapid growth in organic farming has not been matched by comparable farm-level evidence on how organic farm businesses are performing and how their performance compares with conventional systems.

GROFarmS is a Teagasc research project, in collaboration with UCD, investigating how organic farming systems can become more efficient, profitable and sustainable. The project includes research across organic beef, organic sheep and lamb, and the economic and environmental performance of organic farms.

Find out more:
GROFarmS Beef
GROFarmS Sheep

Aims

Building an organic National Farm Survey sample

The inclusion of a dedicated organic sample within the NFS provides a platform for benchmarking organic systems and, as the dataset develops, for examining their economic, environmental and social sustainability.

First results from the 2024 production year highlight important structural and financial differences between organic and conventional farms. Analysis also extends to organic sheep and tillage farms. Analysis also extends to organic sheep and tillage farms. This summary focuses on the three principal cattle systems: suckler, other beef and dairy.

Selected structural and financial performance indicators for organic and conventional cattle farms (2024)

Farm type	Organic suckler	Conv suckler	Organic beef other	Conv beef Other	Organic dairy	Conv dairy
Farm area/(ha	43	31	53	32	77	70
Stocking rate (LU/ha)	1.15	1.76	1.63	2.04	2.62	3.18
Family Farm Income (€)	19,653	13,442	36,825	17,650	53,964	110,398
Direct costs (€)	11,811	16,475	25,649	24,219	104,067	150,088
Direct payments as % gross output	56%	35%	43%	24%	18%	7%

Across all three cattle systems, organic farms were larger in land area but operated at lower stocking rates. Organic suckler farms recorded lower direct costs and higher average Family Farm Income (FFI) than the conventional comparison group. A similar income difference was evident among other beef farms, although total direct costs were broadly comparable.

The dairy results show a different pattern. While organic dairy farms operated with substantially lower direct costs, their average Family Farm Income was considerably below that of conventional dairy farms. Direct payments also accounted for a greater proportion of gross output across all three organic systems, highlighting the importance of the Organic Farming Scheme and wider CAP supports to the current economic performance of organic farms.

These results are descriptive and represent the first year of the new organic sample. They should therefore not be interpreted as measuring the effect of organic farming itself, as differences in farm size, structure and other characteristics have not yet been fully controlled for. With 2025 production data now available, work is progressing towards more robust comparisons between structurally similar organic and conventional farms. The analysis is also being extended to examine environmental and wider sustainability indicators of organic systems.

What can high-performing organic grassland farms teach us?

Alongside the Teagasc NFS analysis, complementary research is examining how high-performing organic livestock farmers manage productive grassland systems, with a particular focus on translating their experience into practical knowledge to support advisors and the design of effective knowledge-transfer activities.

Eight high-performing organic farms, four dairy and four beef farms, including Kildavin have been purposively selected in consultation with Teagasc Organic Specialists. The farms provide examples of productive grassland management under organic conditions and an opportunity to examine the production potential achievable within well-managed organic systems.

The research combines:

Teagasc NFS financial and socioeconomic information
PastureBase Ireland paddock and grass-growth data
semi-structured farmer interviews and
focus-group research.

Rather than simply asking “how much grass can an organic farm grow?”, the study seeks to understand how farmers achieve that performance: their use of clover and legumes, grazing and soil-management strategies, management skills, decision-making processes and accumulated practical experience.

Outputs

The final output will integrate physical, financial and farmer-experience data into eight detailed case studies, practical key performance indicators and evidence-based advisory messages. A key focus is translating this evidence into practical resources for Organic Specialists and advisors and informing the design of effective knowledge-transfer activities. Ultimately, this will support the wider adoption of evidence-based best practice on organic farms and provide farmers considering conversion with practical evidence and guidance to support the transition as well as conventional farmers seeking to reduce purchased inputs while maintaining grassland productivity. Together, the NFS and case-study research provide two complementary perspectives: what is happening across the organic farm population, and what can be learned from resilient, high-performing organic farms demonstrating what can be achieved in practice, including under challenging conditions such as the drought experienced in 2026.

Dr Kevin Kilcline, Teagasc researcher and GROFarmS project leader joined an episode of the Signpost Series to provide an insight into the GROFarmS project.