Tillage farmers are facing huge challenges at present, ranging from the volatile weather conditions and rising costs to the loss of active ingredients that can help to control pests, weeds and diseases.

Nearly every aspect of tillage farming in Ireland now has some form of regulation and, at Tillage Day 2026, the ‘Plant protection, imports and genetics - how the EU regulates’ session will focus on some of the major talking points in this area that are affecting the Irish tillage sector: plant protection products, imported food and feed and new technologies in crop breeding.

The panel discussion will help us to learn how the approval process for pesticides works, how these regulations are changing and whether this will affect Irish tillage farmers.

The imports of feed from outside of the EU is a big topic at the moment and we will hear about maximum residue levels (MRLs) and the effect that EU regulation has on these imports.

Finally, we have heard about new genomic techniques (NGTs) for a number of years. We will get an update on how far away these NGTs are from market and what impact they will have on Irish growers once they are introduced.

The panel

Joining Irish Farmers Journal editor Adam Woods on the day are director of public affairs and communications with CropLife Europe Emma Brown and Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) European policy executive Noel Banville.

CropLife Europe is a European organisation that represents the crop protection sector. Their members include companies and national associations operating in conventional pesticides, biopesticides, plant biotechnology, digital and precision agriculture.

Noel hails from a Wexford tillage farm and is based in Brussels as the IFA’s European policy executive. He is also pursuing a PhD at UCD Lyons Farm, where he is investigating the agronomic and economic viability of milling wheat production in Ireland.

Tillage Day is organised by the Irish Farmers Journal and supported by the Irish Seed Trade Association. To purchase tickets, you can log on to www.ifj.ie/tillageday or phone 01-419 9525.

To view the full agenda, click here.