The Irish Farmers Journal/KPMG Agricultural Business Report has been published today and measures the size of the rural farming economy in Ireland. Cavan is one of five counties that was analysed to provide a "snapshot" of the national situation alongside Ballyhaunis, Charleville, Cookstown and Enniscorthy.
The report shows the industry is mixed within the county with €59m coming from the beef sector; €261m from pigs; €321m from the dairy sector; and €161m from poultry. 11,565 people are employed locally either directly or indirectly and the county contributes €1.3bn to the national economy annually.
Lorcan Roche Kelly, AgriBuisness Editor with the Farmers Journal highlighted how Co Cavan is also responsible for 1.6% of the national gross-economic output of the agri-food sector. "Towns like Cavan are almost like an economy within themselves because they have the inputs and the outputs and so much stays within the area.
"That is invisible to the larger economy and therefore it is important to see the impact of these businesses and establish where the support is needed. These are the parts of the economy that will always be there and are ones that the Government will have to rely on in the future," added Mr Kelly.
