The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has unveiled plans for a support package worth more than €12 million to encourage Irish tillage farmers to grow more crops.

Charlie McConalogue will seek approval for the measure when he brings it before Cabinet later today (Tuesday, March 22).

The targeted intervention package for the tillage sector aims to support the production of more native crops and crops with a low demand for chemical fertiliser.

The measure comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacts agriculture, food security, and global supply chains.

The war has compounded hyper-inflation in the price of: energy; feed; fertiliser; fuel; silage plastic; and other farm inputs.

“We are living in unprecedented times. The illegal invasion in Ukraine has put our supply chains under enormous pressure,” said Minister McConalogue.

“I quickly put in place the National Food and Security Committee to examine how best to advise the sector to manage the disruptions,” he added.

Tillage supports

The minister explained that the support package would be initially targeted at the tillage sector due to time constaints.

“There is a need to focus our supports on the tillage sector given the narrow window we have to plant crops.

“I committed to standing by our farm families during this crisis and I will continue to do so in the time ahead,” he said.

winter crops barley

The support package is being split into three initial measures:

  • Tillage Incentive Scheme will encourage farmers to grow additional crops such as barley, oats and wheat in 2022. A payment of €400/ha is being proposed but this may increase for crops like maize and fodder beet, due to higher production costs. The minister anticipates that a possible 25,000 additional hectares of these crops could be grown this year, leading to a total budget of €10 million;
  • Protein crops supports will reward farmers for growing more peas, beans and lupins. A payment of €300/ha is being earmarked here. It is also proposed that combi-crops (cereal/protein mix) would be included in this initiative. The target is to increase the volume of hectares under protein crops from 10,000 to 14,000;
  • Multi-Species Sward Scheme will see €2 million allocated to support the planting of 16,000 hectares of multi-species swards. It is also proposed to extend the scheme to include red clover as an eligible crop.

The minister said that additional support for the growing of grass silage “is expected to be explored in the coming weeks”.