Vet bills, fertiliser costs and the price of plant pesticides all increased in the 12-month period to the end of April 2025, a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows today (Tuesday, June 17).

The cost of fertiliser jumped by 7.5%, while veterinary expenses rose by 4.7% and plant protection products also saw a 3.8% hike in prices.

But according to the new CSO report, farmers paid less for feeding stuffs, which were 4.9% lower in April 2025 than a year earlier, and also for motor fuels, which were 5.8% down year-on-year.

The CSO's latest Agricultural Price Indices April 2025 - which monitor trends in prices paid to farmers for their produce and also the prices paid by farmers for goods and services - shows that one of the biggest output price increases was for cattle.

The report highlights that the price farmers received for cattle soared by 48.9% in the year up to the end of April 2025.

But there were also outprice increases for milk, which increased by 18.7% and eggs, which also jumped by 4.1%.

Sam Scriven, senior statistician in the CSO agriculture division, said: "Agricultural prices rose in the month to April 2025 with the agricultural output price index increasing by 2.6% and the input price index rising by 0.3%.

One of the key price decreases over the 12 months to April 2025 was  in relation to potatoes which slumped by 9.3% and vegetables, which also fell back by 2.9%.

According to latest figures from Eurostat, the average price of agricultural output in the EU rose by 2.6% in first quarter (Q1) of the year.

Eurostat’s latest research shows there were “sharp price rises for milk” – which increased by 12.6% - and eggs - which rose by 10.7%.

Cereals also enjoyed a price increase of 9.6% compared with Q1 2024.

The statistics also show Ireland recorded one of the “sharpest” rises in agricultural output prices in the first quarter of the year across the EU.