The tillage payment of €28/ha (€11.33/ac) looks set to be topped up by the Department of Agriculture. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the €8m support for tillage announced in Budget 2024 will see approximately €1m go to completing the Tillage Incentive Scheme, paying farmers €200/ha for keeping land in tillage in 2024.

Once payments for unharvested crops have been made from the remaining €7m, there is expected to be funds left over. This is expected to top up the original tillage payment announced in October, which will be paid on cereals and oilseed rape on a maximum of 100ha per farm. This payment is expected to go from €28/ha to approximately €50/ha (€20/ac).

Meanwhile, the Food Vision tillage group is scheduled to meet in the first week of December and its final report has been delayed until late December or the new year.