Cattle, sheep and milk prices all increased significantly in the year to February 2025, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO has today (Tuesday, April 15) published the agricultural price indices report for February 2025.

In the 12 months to February 2025, the agricultural output price index rose by 20.2%, while the agricultural input price index dropped by 3.1%.

The agricultural output price index for February 2025 was up by 2.6% in the month since January 2025, while the input price index was up marginally by 0.8%.

The CSO's data showed the most significant output price increases in the 12 months to February 2025 were in cattle (+27.2%), milk (+24.4%), and sheep (+23.8%).

However, the CSO recorded decreases in potatoes (-4.4%) and vegetables (-1.5%).

Over the 12 months to February 2025, there were significant reductions in the input prices recorded for electricity (-7.0%), feed (-6.6%), and fertilisers (-3.3%).

Plant protection products increased by 4.8% and veterinary expenses rose by 4.7%.

The CSO said that terms of trade rose by 1.8% in February 2025 when compared with the previous month and was 24.1% higher when compared with February 2024.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland recently published its annual ‘Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Processing Report’ which shows a total estimated gross turnover of £6,516 million in 2022.

The gross turnover increased by 110% between 2021 and 2022, with provisional estimates for 2023 projecting a 9.4% increase to £7,128 million.

The food and drinks sector contributed 35.5% of total manufacturing sales in 2022, down from 39.3% in 2021.

The sector contributed 30.1% to total manufacturing employment in 2022, which is similar to the 30.3% reported in 2021.

Since 2014, employment in the sector has experienced eight years of consecutive growth and has increased by 24.4% up to 2022.