New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal that the agriculture input price index for 2018 was up 6.7% up to November, compared with the same period in 2017.

As for the month of November itself, input prices increased by 0.2% compared to October, accompanied by a 0.8% decrease in the output price index.

This results in a 1% decrease in the terms of trade for that month.

These figures also represent a 2.7% decrease in output prices in November, when compared to the same month in 2017.

In terms of individual products, the output indices for milk, pigs and cattle decreased by 11.9%, 7.7% and 4.1% respectively, compared with November 2017.

Looking at the input sub-indices, the most notable increases were on feed, fertiliser and energy, respectively rising in price by 10.5%, 9.9% and 9.5% when compared to the values for November 2017.

Overall, the terms of trade from November 2017 to November 2018 decreased by 8.8%.

Crops again performed well on the output index, increasing by 38.6% on November 2017 values; individually, cereals rose by 43.1%, fruit and vegetables by 4.4%, and potatoes by 114%.

The only other type of produce to show an increase in output price in the same time period was eggs, at 3.6%.

Returning to inputs, the only expense to see a decline in price index was lubricants, which decreased slightly by 0.8% from November 2017 to November 2018.

A full breakdown of these figures is available here.