Macra na Feirme has backed calls on the Government by Beet Ireland to re-establish a sugar industry in Ireland.

Macra believes sugar beet has the potential to restore economic viability to many tillage farmers and to also sustain many rural jobs in agri-engineering enterprises supporting the beet campaign.

The re-establishment of the sugar beet industry was just one of the issues raised by Macra at last week’s National Tillage Forum.

At the forum, Macra na Feirme National President Sean Finan called for immediate action on an aid package for young tillage farmers in financial difficulty due to the challenging harvest in 2016.

“We welcome the indication from Agriculture Minister Michael Creed that he is willing to discuss the mechanics of how an aid package could be rolled out.

We don’t have time to delay on this given the financial challenges and difficulties some young tillage farmers face on the ground.

Finan also welcomed the announcement that the Tillage TAMS scheme will soon be announced.

“This Tillage TAMS scheme is very important for young tillage farmers and needs to be launched as quickly as possible,” he said.

Other issues raised at the Forum

The organisation also raised a number of other issues at the forum, including land mobility, forward selling, Greening and the low cost loans.

Macra believes there is a need to promote the movement of tillage conacre land into more long term arrangements.

It is hoped this would give more certainty of tenure and allows young farmers to invest in the land to improve crop yield and quality.

The organisation’s Land Mobility Service was highlighted as a model that facilitates young and older farmers to reach collaborative sustainable farming arrangements.

At the forum Macra also raised issues around Greening for farmers, as the organisation believes the current Greening measures only add cost and deliver little or no return from an environmental or economic point of view.

Among the other concerns raised by the young farmers’ organisation was its disappointment that overdrafts restructured into term loans are not included in the recently announced low interest loan schemes.

Macra also called on the Government to invest more in research and development at Teagasc Oakpark on alternative cereal varieties to satisfy the needs of Whiskey, Micro Brewing and Porridge industries.

It believes there are import substitution opportunities for some products which can be grown here and deliver viable returns to farmers.

Macra also highlighted the need for farmers to be up skilled and educated on the pros and cons of forward selling their grain as a way of dealing with income volatility at the National Tillage Forum.

Ireland is not self-sufficient in cereals and grain, the Macra National President said.

There are opportunities to develop value added products which will deliver increased returns to farmers and substitute imported products.

“The success of the Tillage Forum in the eyes of young farmers will be judged on its success in dealing with the income and challenging structural issues in the sector,” he said.