The 2024 Horticulture Crop Input Prices report highlights significant challenges for Irish field vegetable growers. The report, which provides up-to-date facts about specific input prices in January 2024 compared to 2023, states that input price inflation in the field vegetable sector continues at a rate of 5.1%, totalling over 43% since the first report in March 2021.
Additionally, extreme weather during key periods of the season in 2023 resulted in reduced yield, quality and complete crop loss in certain cases. As a result, the marketable yield was reduced by an estimated 10-15% on 2021/2022.
The report emphasizes the impact of extreme weather and climate change on the sector's profitability, suggesting that these factors, along with the costs of maintaining natural capital such as soil health, should be considered in future pricing strategies to ensure economic and environmental sustainability. It calls for discussions on long-term supply arrangements and stresses the necessity for growers to receive sustainable prices to invest in climate risk mitigation and sustainable business practices.
The report concludes that improving the margin over costs is essential for incentivizing investment and ensuring the generational renewal of businesses.
Source - https://www.freshplaza.com
