Opinion: Budget 2026 an absolute ‘damp squib’ from a farming perspective

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon

Budget 2026 has revealed what the current government really thinks about Irish agriculture.

Despite all the pre-general election promises, farming got no less than a minute's mention across the two ministerial presentations delivered on Budget Day on October 7.

And the role of tillage within this scenario is truly totemic. Despite the more than significant effort made by all the main farming organisation to get Irish crop production back on the rails prior to October 7, the response from government up to this point has been painfully inept.

This is despite Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon speaking at the recent tillage crisis meeting in Naas, hosted by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), where the strategic fault lines within the tillage sector were laid bare.

The event was attended by approximately 1,000 people, all of whom were there to highlight that Irish tillage is in crisis.

And this is the reality.

To his credit, Minister Heydon has indicated that some form of support package is on the way for tillage. But why the delay in outlining what the budget will be for any future scheme?

And, furthermore, why can Minister Heydon not confirm now if we are looking a one-year package of measures or something more strategic?

Tillage costs

Meanwhile, tillage farmers are now in the middle of an autumn planting season that has entailed the purchase of expensive seed, sprays, and other expensive inputs.

This is a further commercial commitment on their behalf, with many still unpaid for the grain they harvested a number of weeks ago.

It all adds up to further debt levels within the tillage sector at a time when farmers can least afford it.

Cash is king for every business. The reality is that large numbers of tillage farmers are surviving on fumes at the present time.

Goodwill on the part of the banks and other financial institutions only stretches so far. So the need for the government to come forward with a genuine support package for the crops sector is more than obvious.

But this is only part of the challenge. The need to get support monies into farmers’ bank accounts with all haste is equally obvious.

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Winter crops

Thankfully, the weather has turned in farmers’ favour over the past week or so. Ground conditions are excellent and growers have pushed on with the planting of winter crops.

However, had the weather not relented after the passing of Storm Amy, many farmers previously committed to crop production might well have said to themselves – enough is enough: it is time to get out of tillage.

Thankfully, this has turned out not to be the case. However, the strategic fault lines within Irish tillage remain worryingly large.

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