Irish farmers are facing a ‘crisis’ after the price of fertiliser has rocketed, reaching record highs and has more than doubled in a year.
This is expected to have a knock-on effect on food security as farmers will struggle to afford to grow crops as well as an almost certain rise in the price of food in Ireland - which would be passed on to consumers.
New agricultural prices figures from the Central Statistics Office show that fertiliser prices had risen by 127% in January 2022 compared to the same period the year before.
However, these prices from January, before Russia launched a war on Ukraine, with both countries' major suppliers of fertiliser for Ireland.
There is likely to be an acute shortage of fertiliser in this country as much of it is produced in Russia.
A recent price list for fertilisers posted on Reddit showed that since January the price of some fertilisers could have risen again to more than €1,000 a tonne in recent days, up from about €340 a tonne last year.
Meanwhile, these increases are having a knock on effect on the cost of food with shoppers facing further food price hikes.
The same CSO figures show the price of milk has risen by 29.7% in January compared to last year, as well as the price of cereals, increasing by 34%, and potatoes by 22.8%.
This comes after the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue met with farmers to discuss food and animal feed security and said he wanted Irish farmers to grow more grain in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
However, the Irish Farmers’ Association President Tim Cullinan said the rising cost of fertiliser shows there is a ‘very serious inputs crisis’ at farm level.
He said farmers will struggle to grow crops this year if they cannot access fertiliser at affordable prices.
‘Fertiliser is 127% more expensive than this time last year. At that price, farmers will find it very difficult to afford what’s needed to grow crops this year,’ he said.
‘As things stand, most co-ops and merchants have suspended sales of fertiliser so farmers don’t have access to what they need.’
He added that farm families are under huge pressure because of the ‘savage increases’ in their costs and there is growing concern among farmers regarding the availability of both feed and fertiliser beyond the coming months.
Mr Cullinan said the Government has to ‘get to grips’ with the issue and provide meaningful support to farmers.
‘We put it to the Minister last week that the Government would have to come forward with targeted measures to grow more crops and more silage. The key issue here is to tackle input costs particularly fuel, fertiliser and feed,’ he said.
