One of the fundamental recommendations that will come from the Food Vision Tillage Group is the need to add value to all Irish grains.
This tillage group was established to advance the actions for the tillage sector identified in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, while also taking account of the targets set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Climate Action Plan 2023.
The remit of the group was to produce a detailed plan and recommendations to sustainably grow the sector to 400,000ha by 2030.
No doubt there will be a push to further encourage the growing of protein crops, such as peas and beans.
Research, carried out by Teagasc, already confirms the potential to extract high-value components from these legumes for use in the food ingredients sector.
But this is only tinkering around the edges, from an overall tillage perspective.
Value of Irish grains
Feed barley and wheat will remain the backbone of the offering from Irish farmers. So we have to find ways of adding value to these ‘high value’ grain sources.
And the key starting point is for everyone working within farming and food to start talking up these valuable crops – and not demeaning them as mere animal feed options.
So what do we need to do?
First off, every animal feed compounding business in the country should highlight its commitment to homegrown grains. Moreover, they should each start to specifically profile those rations that contain homegrown cereals.
Making this happen will require the establishment of a traceability system that accurately tracks the movement of grains from farm to mill.
In addition, every milk, beef, lamb and pork processer in the country should highlight their commitment to the products they sell and the direct link back to homegrown cereals.
These particular products can then be specifically promoted on both home and export markets. The role for Bord Bia is also obvious in this context.
Supporting the tillage sector
The principle of the tillage sector being totally embedded within the Irish food industry, from farm to fork, must become an accepted principle at the level of the Irish consumer.
It is a well documented fact that members of the Irish public will preferentially support homegrown and/or homemade products.
So, it is critically important that the role of the tillage sector is embedded within the psyche of Irish consumers when it comes to all matters that are food related.
In addition to the produce coming off our tillage farms, the sector brings one other key attribute to the table – its inherently low carbon footprint.
This is another key message, which must be communicated to Irish consumers.
Fundamentally, the Irish tillage sector has a tremendous story to tell. The problem is that Irish consumers have been kept in the dark about all of these matters.