Essential Farm Planning Strategies During Financial Constraints

Introduction

2025 has been a rocky year for many Irish farms. Input costs still loom large, regulations are mounting, and cash flow continues to bite. According to a recent IFAC survey of over 1,000 farmers, 60% identified rules and regulations as their biggest concern, followed closely by rising input costs at 54%. Yet here's the thing: 51% still expect their farm to remain viable,  a slight dip from last year but proof that fundamentals still matter.

If you're bracing for another tight year, here’s how to plan smart and spend where it counts.

1. Prioritise Essentials That Earn or Save Quickly

When every euro matters, cut smart, not deep. Focus first on spending that directly improves grass growth, animal performance, or feed production.

• Fertiliser: With Teagasc forecasting a 5% drop in fertiliser price in 2025, but noting that fertiliser remains the second-biggest item on Irish farms (€600m annually), accuracy is vital.
• Fuel & feed: Input prices fell by around 5% into early 2025, with diesel stable and feeding stuffs down slightly, good news if you’re stocking carefully.
• Output: CSO reports from May 2025 show cattle prices soared by over 40%, milk by ~17%, and terms of trade improved by 20% year-on-year.

Key action: Base your decisions on your farm’s grazing calendar and soil results. If you can squeeze more grass or keep cows on grass longer, that’s less feed to buy and better margins.

2. Delay Big Capital If It Won’t Pay Back Quickly

Improving houses or installing renewable energy might be on your wish list, but only if payback is within 12–18 months should it be on a tight budget. For many farms, non-essential machinery upgrades or expensive new builds can be sensibly delayed.

However:

• Mandatory infrastructure: like slurry storage to stay compliant or safety upgrades, must stay on your radar.
• Labour-saving kit: such as a reliable agitator or automated drinkers, can reduce contract costs in the medium term.

Rules have tightened: 20% of farmers say they borrowed in the last 12 months, and 70% do not maintain formal budgets, leaving them vulnerable to surprise demands. Know what’s urgent and what can wait.

3. Soil Testing: The High-Yield, Low-Cost Priority

Fertiliser is expensive, and increasingly volatile. Yet 70% of Irish farmers operate without a formal budget, meaning many continue blind to what their fields actually need.

• By testing soil (typically €20–€30 per sample): you can target applications, reduce waste, and often cut P/K costs by €60–€100/ha annually. Liming alone can dramatically improve nutrient use efficiency, especially when pH is below 6.2.

Plan: Test paddocks that carry your heaviest stocking or highest yields first. Then spread lime and fertiliser based on actual results — not past habits.

4. Work Smart with Labour: Efficiency Beats Burnout

When cash is tight, many farmers work longer hours, but that often leads to mistakes and fatigue.

• Time audits: show most farmers gain 20–30 minutes per day by optimising tasks (not adding them). A single day of relief help or a contractor can free up essential planning time.
• Small fixes: like improving gates or adding mobile drinkers, often pay back handsomely in time saved during daily stockwork.

Remember: pushing through burn‑out has a steeper cost than taking one well‑planned day off.

5. Selective Scheme Participation (ACRES, TAMS, Eco‑Scheme)

Funding is abundant, but not all schemes deliver in every situation.

• ACRES: offers €1.5bn to around 50,000 farm families for biodiversity and climate improvements. But choosing actions that mismatch your farm (e.g. high-cost habitat works on shallow ground) wastes time and effort.

Action rule: Only pursue schemes that:

• Suit your soil and system.
• Are manageable for your labour capacity.
• Provide clear return within the first couple of years.

Your external adviser should help assess scheme-fit — not just process forms.

What Are the Solutions?

When margins tighten, solutions need to be practical, fast-acting, and backed by real insight, not theory from a textbook. Here are strategies Irish farmers are using in 2025 to keep things moving without losing their footing:

1. Strip Back to the Profit Centres:

Teagasc’s 2024 National Farm Survey shows that dairy farms averaged €86,000 in income, while cattle rearing farms sat at just €10,500, highlighting the wide gap in viability between enterprises. If an enterprise or activity can’t show a return above your time and costs, it might need scaling back. Cutting back on store cattle, reducing high-input silage cuts, or exiting marginal sheep blocks are all on the table.

2. Build a Cashflow Calendar

With over 60% of farmers still not using formal budgeting tools, many only realise a cash shortfall after it's hit. A basic month-by-month income and outgoings sheet can reveal future bottlenecks, and prevent emergency borrowing. Teagasc has noted that cashflow shortfalls, not lack of profit, are what cause most farm debt problems.

3. Tap Into Peer Knowledge

Farmers in discussion groups earn €147/ha more, on average, than those outside the network. Whether through Teagasc, co-ops or local WhatsApp groups, learning from each other is saving real money, particularly when it comes to fertiliser timing, reseeding, or ACRES compliance.

4. Budget for ‘Return on Stress'

Not every cost is about money. Fixing a faulty gate won’t show up in your profit margins, but it might prevent injury. Hiring a contractor to reseed in one day, rather than dragging it out across three weekends, frees you to handle stock or family duties. Teagasc mental health data shows 1 in 3 farmers experience chronic stress linked to overwork — a real cost in itself.

5. Review Finance Options

Interest rates have stabilised, with many lenders now offering fixed agri loan terms around 5–6%, and the SBCI’s “Future Growth Loan Scheme” providing options with terms up to 10 years. Yet many farmers are still paying down expensive merchant credit or short-term loans. Re-financing could ease monthly pressure,  even if the overall term is slightly extended.

Conclusion 

A tight year doesn’t mean shutting everything down — it just means thinking carefully about where your time and money go. Hold onto what’s working, strip back what’s not, and don’t be afraid to bounce ideas off someone if things are feeling a bit stuck. We’ve been walking farms with plenty of others in the same boat this year, and sometimes a second pair of eyes helps you see the wood for the trees. Whether you’re looking to ease cashflow, rethink inputs, or just get a clearer handle on the year ahead, there are ways to move forward, even when margins are tight.

*By Anne Hayden MSc., Founder, The Informed Farmer Consultancy.