UK agriculture is operating in a fundamentally different pricing environment. Input costs – such as fuel, fertiliser and energy – are no longer moving in predictable cycles. Instead, they react quickly to geopolitical events, supply chain pressures and shifts in global energy markets.
As shown in our annual AgInflation Index, these movements can be extreme. Wholesale gas prices have peaked at £515/MWh, fertiliser prices have risen by over 170%, and fuel prices have swung sharply in a matter of weeks as you can see in our graph below.
Volatility isn’t a short-term challenge. It’s now a permanent feature of the landscape – and our advice to farm businesses is to plan accordingly.