Sharp declines in international grain prices and high input prices are among the key factors that will impact on tillage farmers’ profitability prospects in 2023, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has warned.
Minister Charlie McConalogue today (Thursday, May 11) told the first meeting of the Food Vision Tillage Group that weather difficulties during autumn and spring sowings will also impact on profitability in harvest 2023.
But he said Irish tillage farmers who grow crop grain and protein crops also have “tremendous scope” to displace imported feed.
He told the Food Vision Tillage Group, which met at Backweston:
“Despite the advances in the food and beverage sector, the feed sector will remain the main outlet for Irish tillage crops for the foreseeable future.
“There is tremendous scope to increase the production of Irish grain and protein crops to displace imported feed.
“There are also opportunities to place greater value on Irish-grown feed ingredients with the support of the wider industry.”
The new group was set up by the minister in March “to set out a roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector to 2030”.
Members of the group, who include the Irish Grain Growers’ Group (IGGG) and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), have warned that weather conditions are just one of a number of immediate challenges facing tillage farmers at this time.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has warned that the overall tillage area is set to fall by some 8,000ha.
ICSA tillage committee chair, Gavin Carberry, said the fact that 30% of spring sowing has yet to be completed will only add to the already predicted shortage of straw and grain later in the year.
According to Minister McConalogue, the tillage sector “is of immense and critical importance to the overall ecosystem” of the Irish agri-food sector.
Tillage area
The minister told the group: “I want to see the area under tillage grow, not diminish.
“We must maintain existing growers and encourage new entrants and land into the sector – to do this will take fresh ideas.
“All options put forward by the group will be listened to and given serious consideration. However, I am acutely aware of the many challenges being currently faced by the sector.
“I also ask the group to closely and specifically examine the access to land for tillage. This is an area where a real pinch point has developed with increased demand for land from other sectors.”
The minister also urged the group to take a “strategic view” on how to grow the sector.
“There are many opportunities to add value to output of the tillage sector,” he said.
“The growth of the Irish drinks sector is remarkable, and the question is how we can maintain this growth trajectory and ensure all in the supply chain, including the tillage farmer, achieve a fair return to ensure the economic sustainability of the sector,” he added.