{"id":197,"date":"2026-06-23T12:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/?p=197"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:10:25","slug":"shelves-could-go-empty-concerns-raised-over-impact-of-iran-war-on-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/shelves-could-go-empty-concerns-raised-over-impact-of-iran-war-on-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShelves could go empty\u201d: Concerns raised over impact of Iran war on farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This article was originally written in April 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephen Grimley has felt the impact of the war in Iran more than most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a dairy farmer, price increases resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have directly impacted his bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFuel has gone up from 70-80p a litre to 120p or 130p a litre\u201d, he explains, \u201cmeal [animal feed] has gone up 15%&#8230; and then your contractors who do slurry and silage and ploughing for us are going to put a surcharge on for fuel\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the price of milk having dropped by over 20% since last year, the economic situation is the worst Stephen has faced in over 15years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe milk price this time last year would have been 45p a litre and it\u2019s down to 35p a litre now\u201d, he says, \u201cyou are paying all these extra bills with less income, so your margins are a lot tighter\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A third of all fertilisers and a fifth of oil and liquified natural gas pass through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But since Iran forced the closure of the shipping lane, these exports have virtually ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 45% of sulphur, a key ingredient in fertiliser, is also produced in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the Qatar Fertiliser Company, which exports more fertiliser than any other facility in the world, was forced to close for over a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The combined effect of these shocks has seen the price of red diesel, the fuel used by farmers, and fertiliser almost double.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many cases, farmers have been unable to purchase fertiliser due to a lack of supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With fuel and fertiliser accounting for a third of an average famer\u2019s total costs, Stephen believes the impact of this shock could be terminal for some farming businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnybody that is on the borderline of profitability when milk is good would have to seriously consider their position now\u201d, he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While farmers may be struggling, Henry Reilly, DUP Councillor for Newry Mourne and Down, says that consumers could soon be impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe food that you\u2019re eating now was farmed a year ago\u201d he says, \u201cif indigenous farming within GB and Ireland isn\u2019t protected you could find that the shelves could go empty in a year\u2019s time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rate of inflation has already gone up as a direct result of the war in Iran, with average prices rising by 3.3% in the year to March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Declan McAteer, SDLP Councillor for Newry Mourne and Down, believes the situation could get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe next twelve months are very much fraught with danger\u201d, he states, \u201cthe impact of this is not going to go away\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Irish government recently announced a fuel support scheme to help farmers impacted by rising costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those eligible will receive rebates equivalent to 20cents a litre of green diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in Northern Ireland, the Stormont Executive have said they are unable to help farmers without the UK government providing additional funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr.Reilly believes the Treasury is unlikely to agree to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s just hard for the likes of Rachel Reeves to understand that the food on the table comes from farmers\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur farmers deserve some help, especially with the fuel duty that they\u2019re paying. They could knock 50p off a litre of diesel and they [government] would still be making an income from it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet Mr.McAteer claims the Executive parties could act without the help of the Labour government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is a governmental and executive and ministerial responsibility here in Northern Ireland\u201d, he claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI haven\u2019t heard any talk of intervention or even plans for it and this is what disappoints people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr.McAteer also believes that the assistance provided to farmers in the Republic of Ireland could give them an unfair advantage over their competitors in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is an island and it\u2019s an island economy\u201d, he explains, \u201cif you\u2019re going to have assistance in one place, you need to have it in both places\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With President Donald Trump reportedly weighing up whether to resume military strikes on Iran following stalled negotiations, Mr.McAteer acknowledges that things are unlikely to improve until a long-term solution to the war is found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s quite incredible how small the world becomes in a situation like this\u201d, he says, \u201cone small region can end up impacting so much\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally written in April 2026. Stephen Grimley has felt the impact of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padraigcorrigan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}