IFA grain chair Mark Browne has said delayed planting is a major issue for tillage farmers following the extremely poor weather this spring and will compound income difficulties in an already vulnerable sector.

He said: “After five years of low grain prices, our tillage industry is in serious decline. Rising costs, particularly for fertiliser, coupled with low grain prices and a reducing BPS due to convergence have decimated tillage farmers’ incomes.”

Browne said tillage farming has become a vulnerable sector and urgent political action is needed at national and EU level to protect it.

He said an increased dependence on expensive feed ingredient imports of variable quality is not an option as has been demonstrated this spring as it threatens the viability of the livestock sector. “For many tillage farmers, the Basic Payment Scheme represents 100% of income. It is critically important that increased funding is secured for the CAP budget so that cuts over recent years can be reversed.

“Unfortunately, low returns, coupled with difficult weather conditions, have accelerated the reduction in cereal and protein crop sowings. The continuing fall, particularly in the cereal area, is a worrying trend as even the best growers struggle to make economic sense of crop production. One bright light is the planned expansion of the malting sector driven by the increased exports of Irish whiskey. However, a significant lift is needed in the premium paid for distilling barley to justify production.

“Compared with 2017, we have seen a reduction in overall plantings of cereals of 41,000 acres. This is due to a combination of poor weather and poor prices. These difficulties will be particularly acute in the field vegetable sector where late sowings and poor establishment will result in reduced yields and delays in crops coming to market. This will have serious implications for cashflow and overall farm income for the producers of these crops.

Farmers also potentially face a significant yield penalty due to delayed sowing dates, which are up to five weeks later in many of the traditional tillage areas such as Wexford down into east Cork, Browne warned.