Consignment of Fertiliser Delivered to Galway

As part of IFA’s campaign on fertiliser prices, IFA Connacht Regional Chair Pat Murphy has sourced fertiliser from the North for farmers in Galway. It was distributed this morning.

“We are now at the point of the year where all farmers need fertiliser.  It will be spread in the next few weeks, both for silage and for grazing. We cannot wait any longer for the industry here to pass on the large reductions in fertiliser prices to farmers so that is why we have sourced fertiliser from the North,” Pat Murphy said.

Pat Murphy said there has been a reduction in the price of fertiliser by some merchants and co-ops, but a lot more is required. It follows the delivery of fertiliser from the North to a farm in Wexford last week.

As previously highlighted by IFA, the current difference in price could cost farmers up to quarter of a billion euro this year, if prices do not reduce.

“IFA completed a survey earlier this week which showed a difference of over €140 a ton in the price of urea between some co-ops in Munster. This cannot continue,” he said.

“I encourage all farmer to price around before ordering any fertiliser, as this shows that not only is there a large differential in price between the North and South, but also between merchants and co-ops here,” he said.

IFA National Farm Business Chair Rose Mary McDonagh said farmers operate on tight margins, and the difference between making a profit or a loss is very little on many farms across the country.

“Farmers cannot afford to pay unjustifiably inflated prices for fertiliser and the industry must immediately pass back to farmers the large reductions they have seen in fertiliser prices,” Rose Mary McDonagh said.