SMALL farmers are facing an "uncertain future" due to high input costs and stagnant prices, a local beef and sheep farmer has warned.

Many may be used to seeing local country singer, Karl Kirkpatrick, up on the stage. But when he isn't performing, the Glór Tire finalist runs a part-time beef and sheep farm in Derrygonnelly. 

Like many small farmers, Karl is feeling the impact of rising input costs, poor weather and stubborn farmgate prices. 

"Looking back over the last few years there has been a serious increase in meal, in fertiliser, in everything," Mr. Kirkpatrick said. 

"It's definitely getting harder to make an income in recent years. Everything has went up, apart from the price of stock. Cattle are as dear today as they were 15 years ago, while the price of everything else has doubled.

"A lot of the time, it doesn't add up. It doesn't help that the cost of doing things on the farm, like fencing, has gone away mad."

Mr. Kirkpatrick continued: "For smaller farmers, the future is uncertain, and it's getting harder and harder every year."

Like many part-time farmers, Mr. Kirkpatrick admits that farming is a "labour of love". This passion, he says, provides motivation to keep going amid an increasingly challenging climate. 

"I love farming, and I would love to be at it full-time if it worked out on paper," said the Derrygonnelly man, who also works for a local agricultural contractor. 

"That bit of outside work, whether it be working for a contractor, or the bit of singing, enables you to live.

"Whatever is made at the farming usually goes back into it to keep the wheels turning. You might get a bit out of it for yourself if you are lucky."

Recently, DAERA announced that funding for the Single Farm Payment (SFP), on which many farmers depend on is being "redirected" to fund new farm support measures. 

These include specifically the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme and the introduction of a Suckler Cow Scheme from January 2025.

While Mr. Kirkpatrick welcomed the introduction of the Suckler Cow Scheme, he is apprehensive about general cuts to the SFP. 

"If they cut the single farm payment, you may as well say the farming is nearly finished," he said.

"You rely on the payment. It keeps the thing ticking over, as you have the cash to pay the meal bill, pay a bit of rented ground, pay the contractor to slurry, that kind of thing.

"Without it, the whole thing would grind to a halt."