The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to “put money on the table” if the decline in the area under tillage is to be reversed.
ICSA Tillage chair Gavin Carbery said: “The tillage sector is in dire need of a significant and multi-year financial boost which must be delivered if the department [is] serious about meeting the target of increasing the tillage area to 400,000ha by 2030 as part of the Climate Action Plan.”
Carberry was speaking following the publication this week of the Food Vision Tillage Group Report.
The report recommended that an immediate financial support package be put in place for the sector for the 2024 growing season.
It was one of 28 recommendations outlined in the report, although a specific monetary value was not mentioned.
“The actions and recommendations put forward in the report could indeed put the sector on a firmer footing but only if the necessary finance is forthcoming,” Carbery continued.
“The promised payment of €100/ha for crops planted in 2024, though welcome, is not nearly enough to stop the rot within the sector following some particularly challenging years.
“What’s needed is a multiple of that €100/ha and for that payment to continue beyond 2024 and be sustained for at least the next five years,” he added.
The ICSA has said that funding is needed to first stabilise the sector so that growth can then be fostered.
“We don’t have any time to lose on this; it is imperative that this report is implemented in full and that a strong financial commitment is issued to ensure that happens,” Carbery stated.
The ICSA has also stressed the importance of collaboration between the tillage and livestock sectors and has urged that a mechanism to facilitate the forward trade in straw be established.
“Likewise, allowing tillage farmers to take in farmyard manure that could be spread on land that is then used for the Straw Incorporation Measure would be very beneficial to both tillage and livestock farmers,” Carbery said.
IOA reaction to tillage report
Meanwhile the recommendations regarding organic tillage in the Food Vision Tillage Report have been welcomed by the Irish Organic Association (IOA).
The report includes a recommendation to further exploit opportunities for growing the organic tillage sector.
Other actions promoting the use of Irish feed grains, developing Irish flour production and stepping up the environmental performance of the tillage sector are also “highly relevant”, according to the IOA.
Irish Organic Association CEO, Gillian Westbrook said: “With growing interest in organic production amongst Irish farmers, the Irish Organic Association welcomes several of the recommendations in the report which an expanding organic food sector in Ireland is well-placed to exploit with the right incentives and joined-up thinking.
“This is backed by robust demand for organic food both in Ireland and internationally, with consumers making a clear distinction between organic production and other products in terms of its positive environmental benefits.
“Irish organic producers are already leading the way in diversifying into the production of high-quality organic grains for food and animal feed, from protein and cereal mixtures for animal feed, to oats for the breakfast cereals and milling wheat for flour.
“Despite premium market opportunities, it is critical that going forward the implementation of the tillage report fully reflects the needs of organic tillage production such as the associated costs of organic crop rotations and the fertility-building phase of production as well as building capacities for processing and adding value to organic grains at different scales through industry collaboration,” she concluded.