The tillage industry should put a national tillage co-op in place, a similar co-op to that which the dairy industry has, the managing director of Country Crest Michael Hoey has said.

He said such a co-op would become the voice, the buying power and selling power for the industry.

“We’re probably in the most dangerous year that we’re ever going to be in this year with high input prices. Nobody has a clue what we’re going to get for a tonne of wheat next August or September.

Hoey told the Irish Grain Growers Group meeting in Meath: “If they’re going to take away our arsenal of products that we need to grow crops then we need to say well we’re going to go GM (genetically modified). If you’re going to take this away from us on one hand, you’re going to have to give us something on the other side.”

Consumers want cheap food, he said, and expect that this food is going to be on the supermarket shelf every Monday morning or every Saturday.

“But they do not want to pay for it, number one, and the second thing is that they don’t want chemicals to be used on it. We have to get away from this thing of things being given away for 39c and 49c. We’re just a laughing stock. People think that is the correct price of these things. We have to insulate ourselves against that.”