'Exceptional aid' urged for tillage sector as further contraction feared

The IFA said there is "a crisis situation on the ground".

"Without support, we are going to see a further contraction in tillage area in 2024 similar to what we saw happening in 2023," the IFA warned.

The Government is being urged to use EU agricultural reserve funding to provide exceptional aid to the tillage sector.

Irish Farmers' Association national grain chairman Kieran McEvoy said that the sector has many medium and long-term challenges that are being looked at by the Food Vision 2030 Tillage Group, "but right now we have a crisis situation on the ground".

'Crisis'

Mr McEvoy said that the IFA has met with Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe in recent days, as part of the pre-Budget 2024 process. 

"The delegation pointed out that this crisis had significantly worsened since we made our pre-budget submission and this must be addressed in the upcoming budget, or before it if possible," Mr McEvoy said.

"The EU Commission has provisionally allocated Ireland with €9.5m of funding from the agricultural reserve. 

"These funds are earmarked to support sectors impacted by adverse weather, high input costs, and market-related issues. The tillage sector is taking a hit by each measure."

Exceptional aid

The commission also granted member states the scope to complement agricultural reserve funding with 200% funding from the national exchequer. 

Mr McEvoy said that the Government "must leverage off this and ensure any exceptional aid is topped up with additional funding in the forthcoming budget".

"There is absolutely no doubt that exceptional aid is needed for some sectors in 2023," Mr McEvoy said. 

"Anyone involved in the production of tillage or horticultural crops has been particularly affected. 

"Without support, we are going to see a further contraction in tillage area in 2024 similar to what we saw happening in 2023."

'Disaster year'

IFA presidential candidate Francie Gorman has described it as a "once-in-a-generation disaster year" for tillage farmers.

The Co Laois farmer said that successive months of poor weather "has created havoc for tillage farmers across Ireland and, in some cases, farmers have lost their entire crop".

"Many of the tillage farmers I have met have not witnessed a worse year than this in their lives," Mr Gorman commented. 

"Rainfall totals in the past week alone have been two to three times above average which follows what was the wettest July on record in Ireland." 

Mr Gorman said he is aware that 35 acres of barley belonging to a neighbouring farmer "is almost completely lost due to the bad weather".

'Unsustainable'

Combined with excessive input costs brought to bear by the war in Ukraine, high land rents, and declining CAP payments, this is "making that farmer’s business unsustainable". 

"It is impossible for farmers, who produce a premium product without getting a premium price in return, to carry this on their own backs," Mr Gorman said.

"There needs to be a complete review of the tillage sector to ensure we secure a future for farmers as well as a greater awareness at government and EU level of the knock-on consequences for all sectors when formulating agricultural policy." 

He warned that tillage farmers who grew crops this year "will exit the business unless there is an exceptional aid package put in place". 

"Any such scheme to support the sector needs to be tailored in a way that the benefits go directly to tillage farmers," Mr Gorman added.