Despite all the column inches written about trade, tariffs and fears about the consequences for the agrifood industry in Ireland, there is little in the data yet to suggest that things are getting worse.

Data released this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the farm output price index (based on prices paid to farmers) slipped by 0.8% from the high seen in April. However, the index still remained 21% above the level seen a year ago and was also significantly ahead of the farm input index (based on prices paid by farmers).

The input index was little changed for the month, down 0.2% and was a tiny 0.1% below the May 2024 level. The 5.2% fall in energy prices over the last 12 months has been canceled out by a 10.2% increase in the price of fertiliser across the period.

As can be seen in Figure 1, taken together this means that the level of farm incomes, as a whole, continues to outpace the level of farm costs.