With the great spells of warm weather this past week, many farmers across the country have kicked their silage season off with the first cuts of the year.

Agriland paid a visit to Carnew Mart in Co. Wicklow to chat with farmers, who spared some time from their busy schedules to attend last Thursday's (May 28) sheep sale.

After a slow start for sheep prices in 2026, many farmers noted that trade has picked up in the last few months.

One farmer said: "Prices are good right now compared to how they were earlier on in the year.

"The sheep prices were poor until February I suppose, but they've been good since then."

Several sheep farmers pointed towards the Muslim festival of Eid Al Adha, which took place last week, as a factor that has driven demand for lambs and hoggets, with prices of over €10/kg still being secured for spring lambs at factories recently.

Fertiliser

Moving away from sheep prices, fertiliser is unfortunately another cost that is also on the rise as a result of the war in the Middle East.

The European Commission announced a new Fertiliser Action Plan last week, with the Council of the EU later confirming that it will suspend customs tariffs on key nitrogen-based fertilisers for one year.

According to Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly, this suspension "amounts to about a €35 reduction in a tonne of fertiliser" - a decrease which the MEP deemed as "nowhere near good enough" for Irish farmers.

Many farmers around the ring at Carnew Mart also agreed that more needs to be done to reduce fertiliser prices.

However, one sheep farmer told Agriland that his margins have not been impacted by rising fertiliser costs as he has opted to fertilise his fields organically in recent years.

He said: "I have actually have given up [buying fertiliser] as my farm is more or less organic now; the sheep fertilise the land well enough for me."

Weather

The sunny spells this early into summer has boosted morale within the farming sector after one of the wettest starts to a year in recent memory.

Several mart-goers stated that the warm weather has allowed for "an awful lot of silage work to be done" across the country.

"The weather is a great help; it was a very wet winter so a bit of sunshine is brilliant," one farmer said.

Another farmer commented: "It's great to get the good weather to make the good silage.

"You have to look on the bright side of it, it's not all doom and gloom," he added.