Dealing with farm projects week-in, week-out as part of the role of buildings reporter, I know that costs have increased dramatically (and seem to continue to do so for certain items), but it is only when something hits your own pocket that you really feel the effects.

This rings true with a building project at home which involves some replacement of slats, new barriers and gates, as well as several loads of concrete to be poured.

Totting up the materials bill makes for the sobering realisation that keeping a farm yard in good working order is a costly affair.

The difficulty is that margins have been squeezed on farms for the past 18 months or so. Input prices haven’t contracted to the same level that output prices have, especially in the dairy sector, which in reality constitutes the majority of infrastructure spend.

This year has been one to staple the cheque book to the ceiling and only take it down to pay the essential bills, but this can only go on for a year or two before maintenance and development work need to begin again to keep everything functional.

Costs

The incremental increases in construction costs are frightening. Concrete is now coming in at €140/m³ – a solid 50% increase in the last four years or so.

Why is this? Between January 2023 and January 2024, sand and gravel costs all increased by 10%, yet wages and energy costs remained the same.

Structural steel and timber have decreased over the past year or two from their pandemic highs, but concrete is the anomaly.

The banning of creosote has caused a huge increase in the price of treated fence posts. Creosote posts had cost €8-€9 in the past, with the equivalent lifespan posts are now coming in at €15.

This change in costs are more understandable than the concrete costs though, as some of the alternative preservatives (such as copper oil) are three times more expensive to buy per barrel, plus the associated costs in converting creosote plants over to these alternatives.

The increase in costs of both concrete and posts need to be reviewed by the Department urgently and TAMS reference costs adjusted to better cover investments.