Shop prices for food are expected to start rising as farmers are hit with sharply increasing costs.

Prices at the 'farm gate' - the figure wholesalers and supermarkets pay farmers for their produce - are up 19%.

The largest hikes were in milk, which was up 28%, potatoes up 23%, cereals up 34% and cattle up 18%, CSO figures released yesterday show.

Farmers have been hit by a more than doubling in the price of fertiliser. Russia and Ukraine are among the world's largest producers. However, the price increases were recorded before the war sent international prices soaring to their highest levels ever.

CSO statistician Anthony Dawson said: "The most significant change is in the price of fertilisers where the price index is up 7.5% in the month from January 2022 and has increased by more than 134% in the year from February 2021. Energy and feed prices are up 33.3% and 19.3% respectively in the year."

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Consumers' Association of Ireland Dermott Jewell said the higher costs for farmers had the "potential" to affect prices in the shops.

A report by economist Jim Power for the IFA showed that, in the past year, food prices increased by just 1.6%, while aggregate agricultural input prices rose by 9.2%.