Cereal prices, including seeds, in February 2023 were up 47% on the same month last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

However, when analysing crop output prices, the CSO found that there had been zero change in the prices paid to farmers for vegetables or potatoes, including seeds.

The data was released on Thursday as part of the CSO monthly agricultural price index.

Livestock

When it comes to livestock, several sectors have seen jumps in output prices over the last year as well.

Most notably, the CSO found that pig prices were up almost 40% in February compared with where they were in February 2022.

When comparing the two months, cattle prices were 18.8% higher this February and calf prices were 16.7% higher.

Poultry prices were up 15%, meaning poultry meat suppliers received 15% more for their produce this year than they did for the same month last year.

Cattle prices were 18.8% higher in February 2023 than they were during the same month last year, says the CSO.

However, sheep farmers did not enjoy the same bump in price. In February gone by, sheep prices were 8.8% lower than they were in February 2022. This is reflective of the increased hogget supply and downward price trend at the start of this year.

Commodities

According to the CSO, milk output prices were 11.3% higher in February 2023 than they were in February 2022.

Meanwhile, the egg prices paid to farmers saw a jump of 28.5% over the same 12-month period.

Continuing to fail to see any sort of a price increase, wool prices between the time periods dropped a marginal 0.5%.

Senior statistician in the agriculture division of the CSO Donal Kelly described some of the output price increases, particularly those for cereals and pigs, as “significant”.