The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to fertiliser prices in Ireland increasing by 50% in the space of a week.
Russia produces 500 thousand tonnes of fertiliser for farmers in Ireland every year.
One third of all fertiliser in the country is being imported from Russia - with farmers now being encouraged to buy enough to see them through to April, before supplies dry up.
Jim Quinn from Dungarvan is one of many farmers dealing with the effects of the current crisis.
Jim, who runs Quinn Agri-Supplies, says the supply chain is suffering greatly.
"We get a third of our total requirement in Ireland from Russia. 500,000 tonnes come in from Russia each year. You can imagine that with ships coming from Russia being banned, that there's going to be an impact. The supply chain will feel the effect. In the end, we'd be lucky to have enough supplies."
Mr. Quinn says there has been a 'five-fold' increase in the price per tonne in recent months, on account of inflating Russian gas prices.
"The price per tonne has changed a lot since last year, and again I think it's down to Russia. Russian gas has increased five-fold in the last year. It was about $20 a unit last year - but now, its $108. Since the war started, it's gone up 50% in one week alone. The demand really took off, when the first bomb hit Ukraine. There was a flurry of demand then, for fertiliser. The farmers who actually bought and paid for it in December - they are the same farmers, coming back now to buy requirements which will bring them back to the end of April. That may create a problem on other farmers who haven't purchased their original requirement for March."
Political intervention
The matter was raised in the Dail yesterday by Waterford Independent TD Matt Shanahan during Leaders Questions. He said that farmers have been voicing their concerns on the matter for some time, but the concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
"As we are well aware, we have a commodities crisis at the moment, not least because Russia and Ukraine produce almost 30% of the world's wheat, 8% of the world's grain and 60% of the world's sunflower oil between them. All of this is going to feed into primary producer prices and the retail supply prices. As the Tánaiste will know, there is also a significant issue in respect of fertiliser. Russia is by far the largest manufacturer of fertiliser and sanctions are now driving up a price that has already increased by 300% year to date. This will have an effect on productivity and on output and will certainly have an effect on pricing. The farming sector has been raising this issue for some time but little regard has been had to the matter."
In response, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told Deputy Shanahan that a meeting on the matter was being held following the discussion and that the government would work to establish a number of plans in relation to the Ukraine crisis.
"As the Deputy can imagine and as is often the case, events overtake us. Most of the meeting was about Ukraine, the cost of inputs, the rising cost of fuel and fertiliser, and how that will impact food prices and farm incomes. This afternoon at 2 o'clock the Taoiseach will chair a special meeting of Ministers. We will consider three matters. First is the humanitarian response and how we can assist Ukrainians who come to Ireland and more importantly how can we assist the millions of Ukrainians who will not come to Ireland but will be refugees in other parts of Europe. Second is sanctions and the political response. Can we do more to show our support for Ukraine and our opposition to the Russian Federation and Belarus? Third is how we can deal with the economic impact of another economic shock so soon after the last one. How will we help households with rising bills? Can we help farmers with rising input costs? How can we help the business sector? There is only so much that Government can do, but there are things that Government can do. We will consider them this afternoon and I look forward to reporting back to the Dáil next week if I have the opportunity."
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