Tillage group calls for 10% duty on all grain imports
The Irish Grain Growers’ Group (IGGG) is calling for the introduction of a 10% import levy on all grains brought into Ireland.
This is the ‘main ask’ within the organisation’s Budget 2027 submission.
The document is to be finalised over the coming weekend and then made available to government on either Monday, July 13 or Tuesday, July 14.
A meeting involving Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, officials from his department, and IGGG representatives is expected to take place the following week.
IGGG’s Clive Carter commented: “Individual European Union member states have the option of using bespoke taxation measures to meet climate change objectives.
“Each year sees between four and five million tonnes of grain brought into Ireland.
"On the basis of a 10% import level, this would generate an annual fund of around €100 million fund to support the development of tillage in Ireland.
“This does not constitute additional government funding for the sector. The levy would be paid by grain importers, who would then pass it on to livestock farmers.”
According to the IGGG representative, an additional €100 million in support funding would act to stabilise the tillage sector while also helping to increase its area footprint, with the money going directly to farmers.
“We are still well behind the target of expanding the scope of Irish tillage out to 400,000ha.
"This is one of the key objectives contained within Ireland’s 2030 Climate Action Plan," Carter added.
Meanwhile, IGGG has discussed the principle of introducing grain import levies with a number of Ireland’s farming organisations.
“And they all recognise the importance of maintaining an indigenous tillage sector that has a sustainable future,” Carter stressed.
Budget submissions
Other proposals contained within IGGG’s 2027 Budget submission include the need to retain the Straw Incorporation Measure.
The IGGG representative continued: “There is also a need for government to further embed the additional €30 million made available in Budget 2026 over the coming years.”
The completion of the IGGG's 2027 Budget submission comes as Harvest 2026 has clicked into full gear.
“In my own case, I have just started cutting the first of this year’s winter barley crops,” Carter said.
“From what I’m hearing, 3.5t/ac seems to be the average yield for these early crops.
"In my own case, straw is extremely dry and the moisture levels within the grain seem to be extremely low as well.”
