The regulator has released this information on its website, as well as the findings of its recent survey of the trading experience of primary producers. In respect of the sheep dashboard, it is notable that the volume of Irish sheep slaughtered has shown a long-term downward trend since historic highs in 1993 (4.7 million head in 1993 to 2.8 million in 2024).
Irish fruit producers have seen a cumulative price growth of 31per cent from 2015 to 2024. This is less than half of the 71 per cent EU-27 average growth rate over the same period. In the three-year period (2020-2022), Irish fruit growers experienced rising costs across all major input categories and the growth in Irish consumer demand for fruit has been met primarily through imports.
Niamh Lenehan, CEO of the Agri-Food Regulator said: “This transparency initiative by the Regulator is designed to make key publicly available market information more accessible in a single reliable source to improve understanding generally of how the agri-food supply chain operates, and to support informed discussion.
“The regulator does not have a price setting role. Market prices are a matter for suppliers and buyers. Our remit is to increase transparency in relation to the supply chain and the regulator will continue to engage with relevant businesses and other stakeholders to fulfil that function.” The dashboards will be updated as new data becomes available and can be found on www.agrifoodregulator.ie.
Survey results
The regulator also published the findings of its recent survey of primary producers. The objective of the survey was to measure the awareness and understanding of farmers, fishers and growers of the Agri-Food Regulator and the Unfair Trading Regulations.
Primary producers were also given the opportunity to report any incidence of an unfair trading practice (UTP) they may have experienced with a buyer. While 71per cent of respondents did not report being subject to any UTP in the past 12 months, 29per cent of respondents reported that they had experienced at least one of the 16 UTPs in the past year. The highest incidence of a UTP reported was for payment later than 30 days for a perishable agri-food product. This increased from 17 per cent in 2024 to 20per cent in 2025
“The Unfair Trading Regulations protect smaller suppliers of agri-food products against more powerful buyers,” said Ms Lenehan. “And as the Irish enforcement authority for the Unfair Trading Regulations, I urge anyone who feels that they may be experiencing or were subject to a UTP, to contact the Regulator in confidence.
“We have a confidential complaint process available to suppliers and we are here to help. The findings also indicate that there is more work to do in terms of improving awareness and understanding generally of the Unfair Trading Regulations”