Full results for the July Inputs Price Monitor have now been posted, giving a detailed breakdown of the prices paid by farmers for a wide variety of inputs across the country.

The data has been collected from farmers’ own figures, as entered on the Farmers Weekly/NFU Inputs Price Monitor survey form.

Analysed by NFU economists, the results show that the average price for red diesel last month was 41p/litre – ranging from 40.3p/litre in the south west (based on 2000-5000 litre deliveries) to 41.8p/litre in Scotland.

“There can be significant improvements when buying higher volume – varying by up to 3p/litre,” says NFU inputs adviser, Hannah Moule.

Similar wide variations are seen in the price farmers are paying for electricity, though with a good response from farmers the figures are reliable.

Peak prices are found to range from 8.8p/kWh to 12.8p/kWh, though this is more down to supplier than region. Off-peak prices range from 5.3p/kWh to 8.1p/kWh.

“When time allows, farmers would be advised to sit down and look carefully at their contracts,” says Miss Moule.

As for fertiliser, the average price for domestic AN comes to £176/t, though there are big differences between regions. “This is likely to be due to larger volumes being purchased in regions such as East Anglia.”

The one main area where data is still lacking is in the animal feed side. Livestock farmers in particular are, therefore, urged to visit the survey form (which is strictly anonymous) to let us know what they are being charged for things like ewe nuts, dairy concentrate and layers’ mash.

Click here to access the August Inputs Price Monitor