Latest data on agricultural input and output prices from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that while the output price index remains well ahead of input prices, the prices paid to farmers seems to have peaked in April of this year.
The data is until the end of August, so it does not yet reflect the significant cuts in milk prices seen in recent week.
Even so, August was the fourth month in a row where output prices – what farmers were paid for their production – has moved lower (see Figure 1).
Looking at the more granular data published by the CSO, we can see milk prices peaked in February, sheep prices peaked in April and pig prices reached their highest level in June.
It is only cattle prices which remained at their highs in August.
On the input side – costs for farmers – the price of energy moved slightly lower in August and was 1.2% down on the cost a year ago, with that drop being driven by lower fuel prices as electricity bills showed a 2.4% increase.
Fertiliser
Fertiliser was 14.4% higher than the same time in 2024. The price of feed was largely unchanged on a monthly and annual basis.
Overall, the input price index was 2.4% higher than a year ago, while the output price index was 15.5% higher than August 2024.
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