Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has been called on to act quickly on the actions identified in the interim report of the Food Vision Tillage Group.
The draft report makes over 20 proposed recommendations, and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is calling for several of them to be implemented by the minister as a priority to prevent a decrease in the country’s tillage area.
Kieran McEvoy, the IFA’s national grain chairperson, said this morning (Thursday, September 21): “Confidence is low among tillage farmers and action is needed to try and ensure the tillage area does not decline further in 2024.
The IFA is seeking a pilot fund to grant aid construction of slurry storage on tillage farms, as well as an additional top up for the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) in 2024 and an extension of the Tillage Incentive Scheme.
The association said that these measures will “help the wider tillage sector in the coming years”.
McEvoy said: “The harvest of 2023 is still not finished. There are pockets of spring barley, spring oats and spring beans to be harvested.”
He added: “It has been the most difficult harvest since 2008 and 2012 in the vast majority of the country, with atrocious weather in July and August; moderate to very poor grain yields in all crops; and very high input costs.
“These factors have left growers with negative or minimal financial returns in 2023.”
The IFA grain chairperson cited an additional challenge coming down the line for tillage farmers, namely the impending cut in the nitrates derogation.
From January, the derogation will decrease from 250kg of organic nitrogen (N) per hectare to 220kgN/ha in large parts of the country (the limit without the derogation is 170kgN/ha).
It is expected that many dairy farmers will be looking for additional land in order to offset their stocking rates.
According to McEvoy, the resulting increase in land prices will see many tillage farmers outbid for land to rent.
“The changes signalled for derogation farms will keep land rental costs inflated and, in many cases, out of reach of tillage farmers,” he said.
McEvoy added: “Exporting slurry to tillage lands must be part of the conversation in overcoming the challenge presented by these organic N rates changes.”