Current evidence suggests that grassland farmers in Ireland may further reduce their fertiliser usage in 2023 compared with 2022, a mid-year assessment of Teagasc's 'Situation and Outlook for Irish Agriculture 2023' report has found.

The available official data on fertiliser sales in Ireland covers the first six months of the fertiliser year, which is from October 2022

to March 2023.

In this six-month period, there has been a sharp volume decrease in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium sales relative to the sales levels in the same period in the previous fertiliser year.

Tillage

Meanwhile, fertiliser use on tillage farms is likely to remain closer to normal, given that reductions in use can easily affect yields.

Combining a reduction in use with a 10% fall in prices over the first half of 2023, the expenditure on fertiliser in Ireland will decline in 2023, Teagasc has said.

"In 2023, international fertiliser prices have begun to fall, but it can take time for these price reductions to feed through to the farm level.

"It would appear that much of the benefit of lower farm level fertiliser prices will not be felt in 2023, as much of the fertiliser to be used in 2023 will have been bought at high prices," Teagasc said.