Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) farm business chair Bill O'Keeffe has called on all farmers to shop around for the best deals on farm inputs after the committee undertook a survey which revealed significant price ranges across key farm purchases.

The nationwide survey found that common fertilisers are seeing prices range €70/t between suppliers and rations by €40/t.

Fills of 1,000l of green diesel saw a disparity of around €40 between the highest and lowest charging suppliers.

The committee also found that prices were generally higher for farm inputs in the south and southwest.

Room for savings

O’Keeffe maintains that there is room for price savings to be passed back to farmers, given the pressure eased on input costs since the highs of 2022.

“We felt as a committee we had to look at costs inputs nationwide this spring and have concentrated on a few key inputs that most farms use - fertiliser, feed and fuel,” O’Keeffe said.

“All merchants and co-ops must pass back all price reductions to farmers immediately.

“After a prolonged winter, farmers cannot be expected to continue paying inflated prices for inputs. We as a committee will continue to monitor prices and update our members accordingly,” he added.