Commodity trends for 2024

Beef also trended upwards with the €5/kg well breached in the run up to Christmas. Traditionally, higher prices into the New Year tend to build momentum. Time will tell. Sheep prices were also steady at year end with figures suggesting there is a lower carry-over of hoggets into 2024. If those figures reflect the reality, then early and mid-season lamb production should deliver a reasonable return to producers hit by higher costs. The best that could be said about grain prices is that they are holding reasonably steady. There is little indication yet of significantly higher prices for next season that would allow tillage farmers to claw back the losses they suffered last year. Vegetable production remains an enterprise for the brave and the bold. It is little wonder that grower numbers have contracted so much in recent years when one considers the high production costs involved, the razor-slim margins and the ever-present adverse weather patterns we are prone to on this island.