Fertiliser prices fell by nearly 40% over the 12 months to March 2024, according to new figures published today (Thursday, May 16) by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The latest CSO analysis shows that the price farmers paid for electricity also fell by 22% while the cost of straight feed fell by 21% over the same period of time.
According to the Agricultural Price Indices for March 2024 overall the prices paid by farmers for goods and services fell by 15.3% over the 12 months to March of this year.
However the CSO research published today also shows that the prices paid to farmers for their produce in some cases declined considerably in the 12 months to March 2024.
Giselle Myles, CSO statistician in the agriculture division, said: “Compared with a year ago, the agricultural output prices index was down by 3.5% while the input price index dropped by 15.3%”.
The office also detailed that “the most significant” decreases in the prices paid to farmers for their produce in the 12 months to March 2024 was recorded in cereals which fell by 31.4%, industrial and forage crops which dropped by 26.4% and in relation to pigs which declined by 7.5%.
Dairy farmers saw the price paid for milk supplied fall by 5.2%.
However there were also increases over the period under review in the price paid for potatoes which jumped by 73.6% and for sheep which increased by 30.2%, while the price paid to farmers for vegetables grew by 12.8%.
Overall the annual terms of trade was up by 14% when compared with March 2023.
CSO
Meanwhile on a monthly basis the Agricultural Input Price Index for March 2024 decreased by 0.8% when compared with February 2024.
This was in contrast to the Agricultural Output Price Index for March 2024 which rose by 1.4% when compared with February 2024.
Myles added: “The most significant monthly changes in the Output Price sub-indices were in the price of Pigs – which increased by 2.8% and milk – which increased by 1.1%.
“Conversely the monthly input sub-indices saw reductions in the price of Electricity, which decreased by 6.5%and NP & PK fertiliser – which decreased 2.6%.”