Tirlán saw its fertiliser sales drop year-on-year by 20% in 2022, according to latest financial results.
The co-op, which earlier this week published its annual report and accounts for 2022, reported a turnover of €644 million for its agribusiness operation last year, but also detailed that total sales of fertiliser fell.
According to Jim Bergin, Tirlán’s chief executive, it is difficult to predict if there will be a similar trend in relation to the co-op’s fertiliser sales in 2023.
“Last year the issue was that farmers were frightened by price, this year there is a completely different set of dymanics,” Bergin said.
“There’s been a very difficult spring, farmers didn’t have the opportunity to spread fertiliser, there’s the dynamics around fear about supply, product imported by all of us to try and provide some supply at very high prices and then an expectation that the price was going to drop.
“The price is dropping and will drop in the second half of the year so the dynamics of farmer timing mixed with weather means that currently it is hard to call.”
He said that Tirlán has seen a gradual switch to protected urea which means lower volumes of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN).
“March was very very wet, April has been very difficult – we’ll be looking to see what the quality of the first cut of silage is because the indications aren’t great, so it is going to creep into a fodder debate and how farmers make contingency plans for that.
“There has been an element of people cutting because of the quality of grass that was in paddocks and cows weren’t out so we will have to wait until later in the year to so see the fertiliser picture – but it’s not going to be a strong year for fertiliser one way or the other,” Bergin added.
According to Tirlán’s 2022 annual report, while its agribusiness operation grew, its turnover recorded “a volume reduction of 8% and price inflation of 48%”.
In the annual report it stated:
“A standout feature was the outstanding grain harvest in 2022 which was aided by good weather over the summer months.
“The group remains the largest buyer and user of Irish grains, with the green grain intake increasing to over 190,000t for 2022, with excellent yields and strong prices for crops.”
Tirlán also said more than €3 million was paid in premiums “over and above” the feed price paid to farmers for the 2022 harvest.
According to the co-op, an €11 million investment programme is currently underway at is agri-branch network. It plans to upgrade and revamp all of the branches in its 52-strong network over the next four to five years.