CSO
Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that on an annual basis, the agricultural output price index in May was 8.9% lower than in May 2013.
The CSO data also shows that agricultural output price index decreased by 0.3% in May 2014 compared with April 2014. A key driver of the decrease in output prices over the 12 months has been the well documented fall in beef prices.
Output prices for cattle were 12.6% lower in May than in the corresponding month last year. Crops have also seen a big fall off in output price value down 29% on May 2013. Cereals and potatoes were the hardest hit down over 28% and 69% respectively.
The agricultural input price index was up 0.3% between May and April this year. On an annual basis input price index was down 4.8% in May 2014 compared with May 2013, with the cost of feeding stuffs over 10% lower compared to last year.