The spring is fast approaching and a few days of drying will hopefully see fieldwork recommence across the country.

Some farmers on dry areas of ground have managed to get fertiliser out, but most parts of the country have not managed to get any slurry or fertiliser out on land yet due to continued rain and wet ground conditions.

Many farmers are now enquiring about current fertiliser prices and as always, there is plenty of variation.

Agri-stores are generally reluctant to quote fertiliser prices openly, as there can be many variables in the price including delivery, time of payment, and when the fertiliser was purchased by the agri-store.

Fertiliser prices

Agriland contacted a number of agri-merchants located across the country to get a steer on what prices they are currently quoting for fertiliser.

Several agri-stores said that their prices will be going up in the coming weeks as their suppliers have informed them of further price increases.

The table below gives a guide on the fertiliser prices quoted to Agriland for a range of commonly-used fertilisers:

It is important to note that these are simply a range of prices quoted to Agriland by agri-stores across Ireland as of Tuesday, February 24.

Several of these stores noted that their prices would "more than likely" be increasing in the coming weeks.

It is also important to note that some farmers will more than likely be able to buy some of these fertilisers at lower price rates than quoted above while some stores may be charging higher prices than the ranges in the table above.

All fertiliser purchases by farmers in the Republic of Ireland must be recorded on the National Fertiliser Database.

Farmers should also be aware of their fertiliser allowances before buying in fertiliser this spring.

It is also important to have up-to-date soil samples available for the farm as, where these are not available, Index 4 for phosphorus (P) will be assumed and farmers will have no allowance to import chemical P or slurry.