Cattle up 53.8% in agricultural price index for August 2025
Cattle Output Price experienced the highest spike of 53.8% including calves.
Cattle experienced the most significant spike in agricultural output price rising 53.8% in the 12 months to August.
This figure comes from the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) latest Agricultural Price Index report.
The increase of 53.8% is a total of cattle, including calves, which includes a monthly increase of 2.9% to August 2025. Monthly output excluding calves remained at a 2.9% increase to August 2025, and the annual change excluding calves was 53.9%. According to the report, the calves' annual change contained an increase of 41.5%.
Sheep figures experienced an annual increase of 8.8% in the 12 months to August 2025, with poultry also experiencing an annual increase of 4% in output pricing.
Pigs were the only animal group to experience an output price drop. Pigs dropped by 12.9% in the last year to August 2025, and a monthly drop of 3.2% between July and August 2025.
Crop output price dropped in both monthly (2.2%) and annual (5.5%) figures for August 2025. With the CSO reporting no change in annual figures for cereals, vegetables, industrial and forage crops, the loss comes from potatoes, including seeds, which experienced an annual drop of 30.4% in the 12 months to August 2025.
Milk experienced a 3.1% drop in the monthly output price index and an annual drop of 1.3% to August of this year. Eggs experienced an annual increase of 4.2% and wool is up 31.9% on last year's figure, the increase occurring in May of this year and remaining static.
Commenting on the release, Senior Statistician in the Agriculture Division, Sam Scriven, said: "In August 2025, the Agricultural Output Price Index fell by 0.5% compared with the previous month. Over the same period, the Agricultural Input Price Index decreased by 0.1%.
Compared with August 2024, the Output Price Index has increased by 15.5% while the Input Price Index has risen by 2.4%.”
Over the 12 months to August 2025, the Input Price Index recorded increases in fertilisers, veterinary expenses and electricity, 14.4%, 4.7% and 2.4% respectively, while motor fuels experienced a drop of 2.7% during the same period.
Breaking down the fertiliser 14.4% figure, ‘straight fertilisers’ experienced the highest annual spike to August 2025 of 19.8%, this was followed by nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilisers increasing by 13.8%, followed closely by ‘compound fertilisers’ increasing by 13.4%. NP and PK fertilisers have experienced a 7% increase, and ‘other fertilisers’ have experienced a 1% increase in the 12 months to August 2025.
Terms of Trade fell by 0.3% in August 2025 when compared with the previous month and were 12.8% higher when compared with August 2024.
