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Tillage farmers fear that non-plough systems may become unviable due to poor weed control if registration for glyphosate is lost.
A survey of growers at the Teagasc national tillage conference found that loss of the herbicide was the main concern of the 400 attendees.
The availability of chemistry was a common concern among attendees as the loss of fungicides, herbicides and insecticides was identified as the main challenge facing the tillage sector.
The threat of dairy expansion ranked second last.
The use of cover crops was ranked as the number way to protect soils in continuous tillage. Adopting a direct drilling (no-till) establishment system ranked the lowest.
Growing cover crops was also identified by attendees as the most important factor for tillage farmers to contribute positively to sustainability. This was followed closely by using organic manures instead of conventional fertiliser.
Growing higher-value crops for specific markets ranked as the number one opportunity for crop producers in the future.
Just 3% of respondents said they saw no other option but to continue as they are.
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