Fertiliser Sales 2021

Nitrogen content was 407,598 tonnes in 2000 and fell to its lowest level in 2011 at 295,795 tonnes. It was highest in 2018 at 408,495 tonnes and in 2021 there were 399,164 tonnes of nitrogen in fertilisers sold in Ireland. Phosphorus content was highest in 2000, lowest in 2009 and increased again to 46,068 tonnes in 2021. Potassium content was at its lowest in 2009 and at its highest in 2021 at 122,922 tonnes. See Table 1 and Figure 1.

Fertiliser sales were at their highest of the time series in 2000 at just over 1.7 million tonnes. They were at their lowest from 2007-2012 but reached over 1.7 million tonnes again in 2018. They were just under 1.7 million tonnes in 2021 (see Table 2 and Figure 2).

Data on total fertiliser sales and on the nutrient content of fertiliser sales, are compiled for the crop year and published under the calendar year. For example, nutrient and fertiliser data for 2021 refers to the crop year from the beginning of October 2020 until the end of September 2021. In that crop year, 4% of fertiliser sales took place between October and December 2020, 52% of sales took place between January and March 2021, 30% were in April to June 2021 and 15% of fertiliser sales occurred between July and September 2021. See Table 3 and Figure 3.

Lime is a soil conditioner which is used to regulate the acidity of soil. Applying lime to soil leads to carbon dioxide emissions due to the carbon content of the lime. However, as soil acidity is a factor in fertiliser efficiency, applying lime to soil can reduce requirements for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers. This can result in a reduction in pollution, including a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions arising from nitrogen-containing fertilisers. Lime sales were at their highest of the period 2000-2021 in 2021 at 1.3 million tonnes. This was an increase of 50% on 2020 which in turn had shown an increase of 16% on 2019 (see Table 4 and Figure 4).