Industry leaders and representatives from major farming organisations will meet to “map out” a path for the tillage industry over the next five years at the National Crops Forum 2023, which takes place this week.
A specific tillage forum will be held during the free crops forum event, organised by Teagasc, on Friday (September 8) in Co. Kildare and also online.
The forum aims to provide an opportunity for all delegates to discuss the long-term prospects for tillage farming in Ireland.
It will also facilitate an informal review of the work undertaken up to this point by the Food Vision Tillage Group.
The new body was established to address the climate change targets that have been set in place for the crops sector.
These include the expansion of the tillage industry’s footprint to 400,000ha by 2030, a greater focus on the production of high-value crops for use in the human food chain, and the enhanced production of protein crops.
Organic tillage sector
It has also advocated the development of the organic sector and wants to identify the actions that can be taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the tillage sector as a whole.
It is expected that the final report from the group will look at how the tillage sector in Ireland can be maintained and address some of the roadblocks that are currently preventing it from expanding.
The forum on Friday is set to feature the major stakeholders within the Irish crops sector including the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), the Irish Grain Growers’ Group (IGGG), and Teagasc representatives.
Stakeholders have also been asked to put forward their ideas and solutions for the tillage sector and farmer-delegates will also have the opportunity to have their say on what they believe the future should look like.
Ahead of the event there are indications that two key issues have dominated Food Vision Tillage Group discussions to date.
These include the impact of the new nitrate regulations across the arable sector and the practical scope available to the Irish government when it comes to future-proofing the support needs of tillage farmers
It is envisaged that any proposals put forward during the forum debate will be communicated by Teagasc to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Industry figures are hopeful that any proposals that do emerge could be included in the final report that will be published by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.
An internal update has already been provided to the minister by members of the Food Vision Tillage Group.
Many in the tillage industry are hopeful that the minister will respond to the internal update prior to the National Ploughing Championships later this month.