The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has published its contractor charge guide for 2025 with some charges up by a maximum of 5%, while others are "virtually unchanged".

This year’s guide now lists 98 services of work up that are provided by agricultural and forestry contractors in Ireland in 2025.

The FCI said that it is satisfied that this averaged price guide "continues to provide fair and reasonable guidance for both farm and forestry contractors and their client farmers".

However, the association emphasised that this is only an information guide and actual prices may vary considerably.

FCI

John Hughes, FCI national chair, said that the increasing costs of new machinery continues to impact on the sustainability of many Irish agricultural contracting businesses.

“Contractors also have new and additional costs in 2025, with the combination of the minimum wage increase impact along with the new legal requirements around the provision of pension funding for employees due in September 2025.

"These are additional increased costs that all agricultural and forestry contractors have to factor into their 2025 operational costs,” he said.

Hughes said that fuel price uncertainty remains an issue for contractors and this "demands a level of flexibility and understanding from farmer clients at a time of unstable world supplies".

He noted that a further carbon tax increase in May 2025, will mean a further increase in fuel costs of up to 12c/L, before VAT, during the 2025 season.

The FCI chair also warned of the "noticeable scarcity of young people joining the agricultural and forestry contractor sector".

"FCI is seeking the implementation of a training and registration programme for the sector to provide long-term structured technology training for tractor and machinery operators for the sector,” he said.

Contractor charges

The FCI has produced these guide figures on an annual basis by collating an average figure for each operation from a panel of FCI contractor members from across Ireland.

The actual guide charge may vary between regions, across soil types, distance travelled, size of contract undertaken, size and type of equipment used as well as the scale of the work done.

The FCI said that it is also aware that many contractors make individual arrangements with their client farmers regarding diesel.

As an increasing number of farmers are moving towards VAT registration, two figures are again given for each item, one including VAT and one excluding VAT.

The following is an abridged version of the guide (all prices include VAT at 13.5%):

Baling

Baling silage (4×4) – €9.50-€10/bale;
Large 5x3x2 silage bales wrapped – €14-€15/bale;
Round hay bales (4X4) – €8-€9/bale;
Hay cutting/rowing/turning – €15-€17/ac;
Round straw bales – €8-€9/bale;

Cultivation

Min till – €43-€45/ac/per pass;
Disc harrowing – €43/ac/pass or €148/hour;
Ploughing – €56-€64/ac (depending on lea or stubble);
Power harrowing – €64/ac/run or €177/hour;

Drilling/sowing

Conventional grain/fertiliser – €59-€64/ac;
Conventional seed only – €49-€54/ac;
Maize seeding – €107-€113/ac (including plastic laying and spraying, but excluding plastic cost);
Grass seeding and rolling – €295-€300/ac (not including cost of seed);
Plough, till and sow maize – €270 - €295/ac;
Plough, till and sow grain – €125-€130/ac;

Fertiliser application

Broadcasting – €53/t or €113/hour;
Bulk spreading – €53/t or €113/hour;
Lime spreading – €10-€12/t;

Spraying:

Low volume (83L/ac) – €15-€17/ac;
Liquid nitrogen – €115/hour;

Combining

Cereals and oil seed rape – €80-€99/ac (depending on inclusion of chopping);
Grain transport (up to 15km) – €11-€13.50/t;
Beet harvesting – €184-€190/ac;

Silage

Mowing – €30-€32/ac;
Raking/tedding/rowing – €17.50-€19.50/ac;
Precisions chop grass silage (in pit) – €190-€200/ac;
Topping grassland – €26/ac or €68/hour;

Slurry and muck spreading

Muck loading in wheeled spreader – €80-€85/hour;
Muck spreading - flail – €71-€74/hour;
Loading and spreading – €164-€170/hour (12t spreader);
Slurry agitation – €119-€140/hour;
Slurry spreading – €79-€124/hour (depending on tanker size);
Umbilical spreading (set up charge including laying out and reeling in €100/hr) – €190-€202/hour;
Dribble bar (2,500gal tanker) – €105-€110/hour;
Trailing show (2,500gal tanker) - €110-€124/hour.

Forestry

Forwarder – €110-€155/hour (depending on large or small);
Timber harvester – €155-€190/hour (depending on large or small).

The Teagasc National Farm Survey for 2023 showed that the average amount spent on contractor services by Irish farmers increased to €7,340 per farm in 2023, up from €4,162 in 2015,

This data also indicated that in 2023, Irish farmers spent more than €950 million on agricultural contractors services.