Milk and crop prices have dropped by more than 11% in the past year, CSO reports
Both milk and crop prices have dropped more than 11% in the year to September 2025.
In the last year to September, the milk and crop prices have dropped by over 11% in the Agricultural Output Price Index.
According to the latest Central Statistics Office price indices report, the percentage change in the year to September 2025 saw a drop of 11.6%. The monthly output price for milk dropped by 5.6% in September, following the downward trend exhibited since March 2025.
Agricultural Output Price Index up 7.8% in the 12 months to September 2025https://t.co/DkmwLMyfBN#CSOIreland #Ireland #Agriculture #Agribusiness #Farming #Prices #AgPrices #Livestock #Cattle #Sheep #Pigs #MilkStatistics #MilkProduction #Dairy #Milk #Tillage #Crops #Agronomy pic.twitter.com/LS3VXJAiPl
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) November 14, 2025
In March, the output milk price experienced a fall of 3.6%, April saw a smaller drop of 0.9% in monthly change, May saw a decrease of 0.8%, June dropped further by 0.7%, July by 1.3%, and August dropped by 3.1% monthly change in output price for milk.
Overall, in the 12 months to September 2025, the agricultural output price index increased by 7.8% but dropped by 3.4% from August to September.
The report follows the recent publication of Lakeland Dairies and Tirlán dropping their milk price for October by 4cpl, another significant drop in prices for farmers.
Tirlán and Dairygold also dropped their milk prices significantly in September, dropping by 4cpl and 3.75cpl respectively.
Commenting on the release, CSO senior statistician in the agriculture division Sam Scriven said: “In September 2025, the Agricultural Output Price Index fell by 3.4% compared with the previous month, driven by falls in the price of milk (-5.6%) and cattle (-3.7%) compared with August 2025.”
Another significant drop in output price was experienced in crops, with a drop of 11.2%. The biggest output pricing loss was experienced by potatoes (including seeds) with a drop of 27.9% in the 12 months to September. It was followed by cereals, which dropped by 8.7%, then industrial and forage, which declined by 6.2% in the same period.
Vegetables were the only crop listed which had a positive output price in the last 12 months to September, with an increase of 0.6%.
Cattle experienced the most significant increase in output price when compared to last year, increasing by 47.3% despite dropping by 3.7% from August 2025 to September 2025.
Cattle, excluding calves, experienced an increase from 2024 figures of 47.4%, and calves increased by 35.4%.
Pigs experienced the most dramatic decline in annual change, with the output price dropping by 11.9% when compared to September 2024. Pigs also dropped by 2.4% on a monthly change in output price from August to September.
Sheep experienced an increase of 6.4% in output price in the 12 months to September, with poultry experiencing a 5% increase within the same period.
Eggs experienced an output price increase of 4.2% from September 2024 to September 2025. Wool experienced an output price increase of 31.9% in the same period. Both animal products remained static with no monthly change.
Compared with September 2024, the Output Price Index has increased by 7.8% while the Input Price Index has risen by 2.9%.
Straight fertilisers experienced the largest spike in input pricing at 20.1% in the 12 months to September 2025.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilisers experienced the second largest increase of 14.4%, followed by compound fertilisers increasing by 14%, and NP and PK fertilisers increasing 8.6% in the same period.
Veterinary expenses increased by 4.7% in the year. Electricity increased by 2.4%, motor fuels decreased by 0.2%, and lubricants also fell by 0.6% in input price within the same period.
Straight feed stuffs decreased in input price by 2.1% in the 12 months to September. In the same period, compound feeding stuffs increased by 1.5%, feed for calves increased by 1.4%, feed for cattle excluding calves increased by 1.1%, feed for pigs increased by 2.2%, poultry feed increased by 2.4% and ‘other’ feed increased by 1.8%.
Terms of trade fell by 3.1% in September 2025 when compared with the previous month, and were 4.8% higher when compared with September 2024.
