I know a man who recently sold a 260kg weanling born in March for €1,075.

If that same man was keen on buying a phone and having a little spare for a few pints on Saturday night, then the new iPhone may be the wrong option. It is expected to exceed €1,000. Nothing to be sniffed at.

So what could a farmer buy or sell instead of the iPhone? The Dealer put his thinking cap on.

  • You could pay to shear 833 ewes (and that is without paying the shearer)
  • Sell one good-quality weanling
  • Sell 2,857 litres of milk to the co-op at 35c/l.
  • Ten middle-of-the-road dairy calves
  • 250 wooden stakes at €4/stake
  • 1,429 litres of green diesel at 70c/l
  • 20 pairs of wellies at €50/pair
  • 4.5t of meal at €220/t
  • Dose 1,000 lambs with Covexin 8 at €1/lamb
  • 2,500 day-old broiler chicks at 40c/chick
  • And finally

  • A tillage farmer would have to sell 7.4t of grain to earn the equivalent of the new iPhone’s cost.
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