Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the cost of farm inputs are up an average of 38% in the 12 months since August of last year, with cost hikes driven by an almost 140% increase in the cost of fertiliser.

In the year up to August, energy and feed costs also rose, as farmers were paying 40% and 35% more for the respective inputs.

The corresponding rise for farm outputs was only 30.5% over the same timeframe. However, dairy farmers have seen milk prices rise by more than half while cattle prices trailed with a rise of only 24%.

Farm outputs listed by the CSO under the “crop” category were up by less than half a percent in the 12 months.

“Both the input and output price indices have been rising steadily since the beginning of 2021, with sharper increases seen in the first six months of this year, though plateauing since June 2022,” said CSO statistician Grzegorz Glaczynski.