IFA President Tim Cullinan says the ongoing difficult weather conditions and incessant rainfall are having a massive impact on farmers across the country. The Tipperary farmer says the wet weather has delayed work and imposed additional costs on farmers. Delays in applying fertiliser for the first cut of silage for this year is also a cause for concern. According to Met Eireann, March 2023 was the wettest on record.
Mr Cullinan says the situation is also impacting on the wellbeing and mental health of farmers. The IFA is calling on co-operatives and merchants selling fertiliser to reduce their prices immediately. Prices for Agricultural inputs have risen sharply over the last twelve months up 16.4% on average in the 12 months to February 2023 while the Agricultural Output Price Index rose by 16.3% over the same period.
According to the Central Statistics Office Input price increases were recorded in feeding prices (+25.1%), energy prices (+18.1%) and fertiliser prices (+15.4%) in February 2023 when compared with February 2022. The most significant output price increases can be seen in cereal prices (+47.5%), pig prices (+39.6%), egg prices (+28.5%) and cattle prices (+18.8%) over the last 12 months.
