The Kilkenny man who heads up the IFA Farm Business Committee is warning that rising fertiliser and fuel costs will cause a huge price increase in food.
30% of the world’s fertiliser comes through the Strait of Hormuz which Iran has effectively shut down amid the conflict with the US and Israel.
Farmers are warning that if the Strait remains shut for any longer, there will be a huge deficit of fertiliser.
Kilkenny man Bill O’Keefe, Chairs the group and says rising fuel costs will also increase the price of food; “It’s a huge piece of what the Middle East does, it produces oil but it also produces a lot of the world’s fertiliser, if they can’t ship it out they can’t store it for too long so they’ll have to stop manufacturing fertiliser and, I suppose, the reality is we only make enough fertiliser in the world every year for what we need so a day, a week, a month of not making fertiliser means there’s a deficit right around the world of fertiliser”.
