Going into harvest 2026 and morale in the tillage sector is at lowest point I have ever seen.

Costs are wildly out of control and grain prices are stubbornly low and below the cost of production.

Large amounts of 2025 grain in stores is still unsold or sold and not shifted and buyers of native are few and far between.

At the same time, ships full of cheap low standard GMO [genetically modified] maize, soya and palm kernel are coming into our ports every week.

They have taken over our natural market and this is a distressing sight for every tillage grower.

Cheap is not a valid reason when standards are not the same.

We supported the campaign opposing Mercosur beef [from South America] but ask the question - why not the same with GMO livestock feed imports, when the difference in standards is much greater than in beef?

The fact is cheap imports have severely impacted native grain production, with grower numbers dropping year on year which will eventually lead to a token industry if let slide.

More hoops for tillage sector

The grand solution put forward by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Bord Bia, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and Tillage Industry Ireland (TII) is for native growers to take on Teagasc Agnav and then submit to a comprehensive audit by Bord Bia to prove our carbon footprint and grain provenance.

They all seem to forget Irish grain is not the problem here. Talk about playing the man and not the ball and you have to wonder what exactly is driving this policy.

More costs for hard pressed growers; more jobs for inspectors and advisors; more credence for quality of livestock produce; and little more than a promise of more demand for native grain.

I see absolutely no money on table for native producers supplying into the livestock feed market in these proposals.

The end result is suppliers of 15% to 20% of feed rations are subjected to EU and DAFM rules on cross compliance, nitrates, fertiliser register, restricted access to plant protection chemicals and plant technology.

Meanwhile, the main suppliers of imports that make up 80% of rations don’t have to meet our EU production rules.

This is double standards in the extreme and the most important point here is there is no label, advertisement or promotion that mentions the presence of these lower standard imports in our food chain.

What is wrong with our consumers making an informed choice?

However, to do that, they have to have the full information and that is the responsibility of our state agencies - DAFM, Bord Bia and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

In my opinion, they are not giving the full and accurate information.

The truth will eventually come out but will it be too late for the Irish tillage farmer.

From, Ollie Whyte, Whyte Bros Farms