Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that he intends to make "progress on our commitments" of providing funding to the tillage sector in Budget 2026.

He said he recognises that the sector is "in crisis", made evident by hundreds of farmers turning out to a tillage meeting hosted by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) on behalf of the crops sector in Naas, Co. Kildare last Friday.

The Tánaiste spoke to Agriland during a livestream at the National Ploughing Championships.

He said that there have been a "number of particular, often international factors that have really hit that sector".

"We've tried to provide some degree of support, we need to do more," he said.

He said he is working with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon "to see if we can have proposals for the budget", which is soon approaching on October 7.

He said tillage is an important sector environmentally.

He also said that supporting the farming sector "makes sense" - because "we won't be able to make the environmental transition if we have a big hole in the public finances, and we'd have a big hole in the public finances if we don't have productive farmers".

"I'm also honest with farmers - things are going to change, they know that. They want people to work with them on that change in a logical, supportive sense," Minister Harris said.

"I think that reset is underway."

Addressing generational renewal, the Tánaiste said that the facts are "pretty stark" when it comes to the number of young farmers in Ireland.

"If we don't act now, we are going to have a very major crisis in terms of ensuring that farming is sustainable into the future," he said.

Speaking about the report of the Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming published today, the minister said that cabinet will be briefed on it tomorrow.

"There are 31 recommendations and what I'll want to see is a clear implementation plan now to drive them forward."

The minister also said that the nitrates derogation is a "national economic asset in many ways", and that government is trying to put in place plans to "provide farmers with certainty".

He said keeping the derogation post-2025 is "going to be a really big battle".

"It requires all of us in government, industry, farming representative groups working together," he added.

"We have a cabinet committee on water quality, we are putting significant amount of funding into water and we have to show Brussels we have a plan here to improve our water quality, but we need time."