The rising price of fuel for agricultural vehicles is placing a "significant burden" on young farmers, according to Macra.

The farm organisation said that young farmers "operating on tight budgets and small margins" may find this unexpected increase particularly challenging.

"Our young farmers are facing a stark reality. In recent weeks, the price they receive for their produce has fallen, while input costs continue to spiral.

"Margins that were already tight are now being squeezed even further, placing real pressure on the viability of family farms," Josephine O’Neill, Macra president, said.

Macra

Macra has expressed growing concern about the rising cost of energy and the significant impact it is having on young people living and working in rural Ireland.

Global fuel prices have soared due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Oil prices have broken the $100/barrel threshold as tensions intensify and expand across the region.

Macra has called on the government to take "immediate action" to help ease the pressure on Ireland's rural youth for whom "access to a private vehicle is often essential".

"Rising petrol and diesel costs are therefore having a direct and unavoidable impact on their daily lives.

"At the same time, higher prices for home heating oil are adding further strain, particularly for young people renting or managing households for the first time," O'Neill said.

The Macra president said that young people have already been feeling the pinch of inflation.

"This unexpected and significant rise in fuel costs will further stretch already tight budgets.

"To support young people in living and working in rural Ireland, we need the government to ease fuel taxes for the duration of the ongoing conflict," she said.