Jury still out on biofuel crops

FEW extra acres of biofuel crops are likely to result from last Sunday’s Bioenergy Action Plan for Ireland launch by the Government.

Tillage farmers are likely to go with tried and tested crops, rather than new ideas, when their waterlogged fields dry up, and fast decisions and round-the-clock work are needed to get crops in.

Ironically, the huge success of bioenergy in the US will slow the arrival of similar ideas in latecomers like Ireland.