Preliminary estimates for agricultural input prices show that fertiliser prices are set to fall by 30.4% this year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
As a result, the CSO said that input price indices are projected to decline by 5.2% in 2023 when compared with 2022.
Additionally, energy prices are also estimated to reduce by 2.8% over the same period.
However, the provisional data shows that feed stuffs will be 2.8% more expensive this year, seed prices will be up by 7.3%, plant protection products will rise by 8.8% and veterinary costs will jump by 6.1%.
The CSO said that the agricultural output price index is projected to decrease by 8% in 2023, mainly due to the drop in milk price of 27.8%, when compared with 2022.
Sheep prices are anticipated to be 2.5% back on last year’s levels.
Estimated price increases are reported in pigs (21.9%), potatoes (17.4%), poultry (5.6%) and cattle (3.7%).
The annual terms of trade is forecast to fall by 3% when compared with the year 2022. This represents the output price index expressed as a percentage of the input price index.
The preliminary annual indices, which are also sent to the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat, are compiled by using the published monthly CSO indices from January to September, and forecast estimates for September to December.
The indices monitor trends in prices paid to farmers for their produce and in prices paid by farmers for purchases of goods and services.
The information is compiled from a wide variety of sources, including direct CSO surveys and administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).