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Standard Output

Standard Output

CSO statistical publication, , 11am

The Standard Output (SO) of an agricultural product is defined as the average monetary value of the agricultural output at farm-gate prices. SO is not a measure of farm income as it does not take into account costs, direct payments, value added tax or taxes on products.

Economic Size

The median Standard Output across all farms in 2023 was €15,413, up from €12,225 (+26.1%) in 2013. 

The South-East region had the highest median Standard Output, indicating 50% of farms had a Standard Output of over €34,353. The Border region reported the lowest median Standard Output with €10,736.

In 2023, Kilkenny had highest median Standard Output with €38,801. The lowest median Standard Output was reported for farms in Donegal; €8,439.

X-axis labelMedian
Kilkenny38801
Wexford34933
Waterford33554
Tipperary30109
Laois29012
Carlow28155
Offaly26210
Cork25035
Meath21984
Westmeath21511
Wicklow21127
Kildare20458
Table 5.1 Number of Farms by Economic Size, Region and County, 2023

Economic Size by Farm Size

In general, the Standard Output was higher for larger size farms. 62.1% of farms larger than 100 ha had a Standard Output greater than €100,000. Most farms (48.2%) smaller than 10 ha had a Standard Output less than €4,000.

The mean Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) was larger for farms with a higher Standard Output. Farms with a Standard Output < €4,000 and €4,000 - €8,000 had mean UAA values of 10.4 ha and 15.1 ha respectively. The mean UAA across all farms was 34.7 in 2023. Farms in the €50,000 - €100,000 and Over €100,000 Economic Size categories reported mean UAA of 58.4 and 83.0 ha respectively.

X-axis label<1010-20ha20-30ha30-40ha50-100ha100+ha
Over €100,000438216691392588814608
€50,000 - €100,000215529134438623888732
€25,000 - €50,0008382909508968542784932
€15,000 - €25,00023335824489538481395560
€8,000 - €15,00059638089411227711085386
€4,000 - €8,0008029596322021231362127
<€4,000165945464169198945076
X-axis label< €4,000€4,000 - €8,000€8,000 - €15,000€15,000 - €25,000€25,000 - €50,000€50,000 - €100,000Over €100,000
Economic Size10.415.122.330.443.458.483
Table 5.2 Number of Farms by Economic Size and Farm Size(UAA), 2023

Economic Size by Farm Type

In 2023, median values indicated that 50% of Specialist Dairying and Mixed Crops and Livestock farms had Standard Outputs greater than €225,056 and €57,261 respectively. All Specialist Dairying farms reported a Standard Output of over €15,000, 88.4% over €100,000.

Farm types that had the next largest mean and median Standard Outputs were Specialist Tillage (mean of €101,982 and median of €55,094), Mixed Crops and Livestock (mean of €87,808 and median of €57,261) and Mixed Grazing Livestock (mean of €53,037 and median of €28,357).

Specialist Beef Production, Specialist Sheep and Mixed Field Crops had the lowest mean and median Standard Output in 2023. All means were less than €22,000 and all medians were less than €14,000.

X-axis labelMedian Standard Output (€)
Specialist Dairying225056
Mixed Crops and Livestock57261
Specialist Tillage55094
Mixed Grazing Livestock28357
Specilaist Beef Production13782
Other12965
Specialist Sheep8502
Mixed Field Crops237
Table 5.3 Number of Farms by Economic Size and Farm Type, 2023

Economic Size by Characteristics of the Holder

In general, farms with a higher Standard Output were owned by younger Farm Holders. The median age for Farm Holders on farms with an Economic Size of Over €100,000 was 58 years. Comparatively, farms with an Economic Size less than €8000 were owned by holders with a median age of 62 years.

Holders on farms of Economic Sizes €15,000 - €25,000, €25,000 - €50,000 and €50,000 - €100,000 had a median age of 59 years.

X-axis labelMedian AgeMean Age
Over €100,0005857.7
€50,000 - €100,0005958.3
€25,000 - €50,0005958.5
€15,000 - €25,0005958.8
€8,000 - €15,0006159.6
€4,000 - €8,0006260.9
< €4,0006261.3
Table 5.4 Average Age of Farm Holder by Economic Size, 2023

In general, female Farm Holders make up a higher proportion of holders in the smaller Economic Size categories compared to those in the larger size categories. Female holders represented 21.1% and 16.5% of holders in the less than €4000 and €4,000 - €8,000 categories respectively, while representing only 7.3% in the Over €100,000 category.

The proportion of Male holders increases as Standard Output does. Male Holders represented 78.9% of holders on farms of Economic Size less than €4000 compared to 86.8% across all farms.

X-axis labelFemaleMale
Over €100,0007.392.7
€50,000 - €100,0007.792.3
€25,000 - €50,0009.790.3
€15,000 - €25,0001189
€8,000 - €15,00013.886.2
€4,000 - €8,00016.583.5
< €4,00021.178.9
Table 5.5 Number of Farms by Economic Size and Sex of Holder, 2023