Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has been told that he “must come forward with real measures” to increase food security.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said ahead of a meeting between farm organisations and the minister tonight that he “cannot come forward with soundbites” on increasing food production capacity.
The minister called the meeting with the farm organisations on foot of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing food security issue.
It emerged over the weekend that Minister McConalogue plans to introduce a measure for all farmers to grow grain crops.
IFA president Tim Cullinan said the association will be putting forward its own proposals to deal with the issue.
“There must be a focus on growing more grass for silage as well as more crops. The key issue here is to tackle input costs particularly fuel, fertiliser and feed,” he said.
Cullinan also backed other calls for excise on fuel to be reduced and the carbon tax to be suspended for 2022 for farmers and contractors.
“The minister needs to introduce a targeted scheme to support the use of fertilisers for growing more crops and grass silage.
“The pig and poultry sectors are under huge pressure and the minister must look at further measures to keep these sectors in business and producing food,” the IFA president argued.
He also called on the department to do “an immediate inventory” of all fertiliser, feed, seed and other inputs in the country.
“Since this government has taken office, they have done nothing but try to reduce output at farm level, but now they have rightly realised the importance of food security,” Cullinan highlighted.
The IFA is also highlighting the need to support existing tillage farmers, including potato farmers who might be better placed to switch to tillage crops. The three-crop rule should also be suspended, the IFA argued.
Cullinan urged for the “maximum use” of organic fertiliser.
Finally, the IFA president highlighted: “We need to ensure that any farmer who decides to reduce their stock to grow more silage or crops is not impacted from a tax perspective.”
The meeting between farm organisations and the minister is currently underway and is set to last for around two hours.