For quarter one (Q1) of 2023, bovine feed sales fell by 3%, Teagasc's mid-year assessment of it situation and outlook for Irish agriculture 2023 shows.

In this period between January and April, Teagasc said the Department of Agriculture data shows that bovine feed sales fell by 3% relative to the same period in 2022.

Dairy feed sales for this period were up 5% in volume terms, according to the data.

The volume of sheep feed use in Q1 of 2023 was down 12% on the same period in 2022.

Higher feed prices

However, this was in the context of high feed prices and lower lamb prices for the year to date.

Pig feed sales were lower in Q1 of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, reflecting the "contraction in the size of the Irish pig population" that has occurred, Teagasc said.

Meanwhile, poultry feed sales were up slightly on the same period in 2022.

Developments

Feed prices so far in 2023 are about 15% higher than the same period in 2022, according to Teagasc.

"However, it should be understood that Irish feed prices remain about 50% higher than they were during the first half of 2021.

"Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, global cereal market developments, as reflected in the ‘on account’ harvest prices reported at harvest 2023, indicate a significant decrease in Irish cereal prices relative to 2022.

"A 20% decrease in farm-gate cereal prices for the 2023 harvest is forecast," Teagasc has said.

Averaging across the full year, it is likely that Irish farmgate feed prices in 2023 will be approximately 10% higher than in 2022.