Almost 30% of farmers who took part in an Agri-Food Regulator survey have said that they experienced at least one unfair trading practice (UTP) in the past year.
The objective of the survey was to measure the awareness and understanding of farmers, fishers and growers of the Agri-Food Regulator and the unfair trading regulations.
“Primary producers were also given the opportunity to report any incidence of an unfair trading practice they may have experienced with a buyer.
“While 71% of respondents did not report being subject to any UTP in the past 12 months, 29% of respondents reported that they had experienced at least one of the 16 UTPs in the past year.
“The highest incidence of a UTP reported was for payment later than 30 days for a perishable agri-food product (increased from 17% in 2024 to 20% in 2025),” the regulator said.
CEO of the regulator Niamh Lenehan said that the regulations protect smaller suppliers of agri-food products against more powerful buyers.
“And as the Irish enforcement authority for the unfair trading regulations, I urge anyone who feels that they may be experiencing or were subject to a UTP, to contact the regulator in confidence.
“We have a confidential complaint process available to suppliers and we are here to help. The findings also indicate that there is more work to do in terms of improving awareness and understanding generally of the unfair trading regulations,” she said.
Sheep price data
The regulator also announced it has published reports on the sheep and fruit sectors as part of its interactive price and market data dashboard initiative that brings together publicly available information to show how prices and other market indicators have developed over time.
Lenehan said: “This transparency initiative by the regulator is designed to make key publicly available market information more accessible in a single reliable source to improve understanding generally of how the agri-food supply chain operates and to support informed discussion.”
In respect of the sheep dashboard, it is notable that the volume of Irish sheep slaughtered has shown a long-term downward trend since historic highs in 1993 (4.7 million head in 1993 to 2.8 million in 2024).
It can be observed in the regulator’s market analysis of the fruit supply chain that:
Irish fruit producers have seen a cumulative price growth of 31% from 2015 to 2024. This is less than half of the 71% EU27 average growth rate over the same period.In the three-year period 2020-2022, Irish fruit growers experienced rising costs across all major input categories.The growth in Irish consumer demand for fruit has been met primarily through imports.“The regulator does not have a price-setting role,” Lenehan said.
“Market prices are a matter for suppliers and buyers. Our remit is to increase transparency in relation to the supply chain and the regulator will continue to engage with relevant businesses and other stakeholders to fulfil that function.”
Almost 30% of farmers who took part in an Agri-Food Regulator survey have said that they experienced at least one unfair trading practice (UTP) in the past year.
The objective of the survey was to measure the awareness and understanding of farmers, fishers and growers of the Agri-Food Regulator and the unfair trading regulations.
“Primary producers were also given the opportunity to report any incidence of an unfair trading practice they may have experienced with a buyer.
“While 71% of respondents did not report being subject to any UTP in the past 12 months, 29% of respondents reported that they had experienced at least one of the 16 UTPs in the past year.
“The highest incidence of a UTP reported was for payment later than 30 days for a perishable agri-food product (increased from 17% in 2024 to 20% in 2025),” the regulator said.
CEO of the regulator Niamh Lenehan said that the regulations protect smaller suppliers of agri-food products against more powerful buyers.
“And as the Irish enforcement authority for the unfair trading regulations, I urge anyone who feels that they may be experiencing or were subject to a UTP, to contact the regulator in confidence.
“We have a confidential complaint process available to suppliers and we are here to help. The findings also indicate that there is more work to do in terms of improving awareness and understanding generally of the unfair trading regulations,” she said.
Sheep price data
The regulator also announced it has published reports on the sheep and fruit sectors as part of its interactive price and market data dashboard initiative that brings together publicly available information to show how prices and other market indicators have developed over time.
Lenehan said: “This transparency initiative by the regulator is designed to make key publicly available market information more accessible in a single reliable source to improve understanding generally of how the agri-food supply chain operates and to support informed discussion.”
In respect of the sheep dashboard, it is notable that the volume of Irish sheep slaughtered has shown a long-term downward trend since historic highs in 1993 (4.7 million head in 1993 to 2.8 million in 2024).
It can be observed in the regulator’s market analysis of the fruit supply chain that:
Irish fruit producers have seen a cumulative price growth of 31% from 2015 to 2024. This is less than half of the 71% EU27 average growth rate over the same period.In the three-year period 2020-2022, Irish fruit growers experienced rising costs across all major input categories.The growth in Irish consumer demand for fruit has been met primarily through imports.“The regulator does not have a price-setting role,” Lenehan said.
“Market prices are a matter for suppliers and buyers. Our remit is to increase transparency in relation to the supply chain and the regulator will continue to engage with relevant businesses and other stakeholders to fulfil that function.”
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