Tillage chair of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) Gavin Carberry has said the new support package for the sector is not sufficient for farmers who suffered losses to their crop this year.
The overall package, announced by the agriculture minister on Tuesday (October 3), will allocate €7.148 million to the tillage sector and €2.383 million to the horticulture sector.
“While any financial support is welcome, the reality is that a package worth just over €7 million does not amount to a meaningful level of aid for the sector and will not in any way mitigate the losses incurred on tillage farms this year,” Carberry said.
The support was announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State for land use and biodiversity with special responsibility for horticulture, Pippa Hackett.
Minister McConalogue said: “The supports are funded from Ireland’s allocation under the EU Agricultural Reserve which provides for emergency financial support for agricultural sectors affected by specific problems impacting on the economic viability of agricultural producers.”
Tillage support payments
The ICSA tillage chair has said that the support for an individual farmer “will work out at around €11.30/ac” and for an “average-size tillage farm of 80ac, that amounts to €904 per holding”.
“However, tillage farmers are losing around €300/ac, and more if they can’t get crops harvested.
“When you put it into context, it is abundantly clear that the level of support announced really is just a fraction of what is required,” Carberry said.
The minimum area for payment will be 5ha and payments will be capped at 100ha/grower. It is expected that the payments will be made in January 2024.
“With a maximum payment of €2,800 it is also significantly lower than packages that have been given to other sectors in recent years,” Carberry continued.
The ICSA tillage chair also said the aid would go against the target of increasing the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030.
Carberry said: “Our aim is to increase the area under tillage, not drive tillage farmers out of business.
“It is therefore incumbent on Ministers McConalogue and Hackett to come back with a much larger package of financial supports to safeguard the sector amid the ongoing difficulties.
“To stop a lot of tillage farmers going under we need to see a financial package that is many multiples of what was announced,” Carberry said.