Total farm income in Ireland increased by almost 23% last year, according to figures published today by the Central Statistics Office.
The CSO said total income in the agriculture sector was up 22.7% to €508m during 2005, despite higher costs for feed, fuel and fertiliser.
The majority of the increase has resulted from EU changes that have seen Irish farmers lose around €465m in subsidies on products, but gain more than €1.1bn in subsidies on production.
Elsewhere, the CSO said the value of cattle output increased by €70m during 2005, while the value of milk output and cereal output decreased by €82m and €56m respectively.