As anticipation builds ahead of Government’s unveiling of Budget 2026 this afternoon, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has managed to keep a tight lid on any funding movement for farm schemes.
Indications point towards TB control taking a significant chunk of any budget rise approved for the Department of Agriculture.
Trends both reactor numbers and herd incidence are worsening at a time when strong cattle prices are bloating the Department’s annual bill for compensation farmers for removing reactors.
On top of the successive yearly jumps in this TB bill, a push towards blood testing as part of the recently brought forward revamp of the TB controls is anticipated to see reactors increase even more over the next one or two years.
Drystock
In last year’s budget, the National Beef Welfare Scheme got an €8m top-up in funding to bring the scheme’s total allocation to €28m, while the National Sheep Welfare Scheme received a similar boost of €7m to bring its budget to €22m.
These increases at Department-level were worth €25/calf to farmers – as well as full payment on an additional five calves to those who had the numbers, along with €5/ewe.
Although both sectors have experienced relatively favourable output prices in comparison to recent years, they are in decline with suckler cows and ewes getting fewer with each passing year.
The Programme for Government has committed to “increase scheme supports” for suckler and sheep farmers “over a five-year term”.
Tillage
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon is coming under significant pressure from farming organisations to boost funding for the tillage sector, which has been left struggling as grain prices fell.
Tillage margins are under severe pressure as farming organisations have called for Government to live up to pre-general election promises. / Philip Doyle
Supports were announced for the tillage sector last year with an allocation of €30m to cover payments of €100/ha, just over €32m actually paid out.
The Programme for Government sets out to “invest significantly in the tillage sector over five years to maintain and grow the sector,” while the Climate Action Plan’s target of 400,000ha looms.
The tillage sector has called for €60m in funds for Budget 2026 in-line with pore-genera election promises from the Government parties.
Young farmers
One area not expected to see any major allocation of funds is farm succession, despite the eventual publication of the much-hyped final report from the Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming at the National Ploughing Championships.
The report called for lump sum payments of €25,000 apiece for young farmers taking over the land and the older farmer handing it down.
Minister Heydon played down the role any farm succession scheme could play before the next CAP takes effect – 2028 at the earliest – and advised those considering transferring control to the next generation not to “sit around for years” waiting on a scheme.
Wider fears
Budget 2026’s allocation for agriculture comes as the European Commission plans to cut ringfenced CAP funds by 20%, feeding longer-term fears for the future of farm payment schemes.
While not applicable until after 2027, Brussels does want to push responsibility for allocating each member states’ slice of the EU back to national Governments, as well as seeing any country that wants strong financial support for agriculture to do so in its national budgets.
As anticipation builds ahead of Government’s unveiling of Budget 2026 this afternoon, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has managed to keep a tight lid on any funding movement for farm schemes.
Indications point towards TB control taking a significant chunk of any budget rise approved for the Department of Agriculture.
Trends both reactor numbers and herd incidence are worsening at a time when strong cattle prices are bloating the Department’s annual bill for compensation farmers for removing reactors.
On top of the successive yearly jumps in this TB bill, a push towards blood testing as part of the recently brought forward revamp of the TB controls is anticipated to see reactors increase even more over the next one or two years.
Drystock
In last year’s budget, the National Beef Welfare Scheme got an €8m top-up in funding to bring the scheme’s total allocation to €28m, while the National Sheep Welfare Scheme received a similar boost of €7m to bring its budget to €22m.
These increases at Department-level were worth €25/calf to farmers – as well as full payment on an additional five calves to those who had the numbers, along with €5/ewe.
Although both sectors have experienced relatively favourable output prices in comparison to recent years, they are in decline with suckler cows and ewes getting fewer with each passing year.
The Programme for Government has committed to “increase scheme supports” for suckler and sheep farmers “over a five-year term”.
Tillage
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon is coming under significant pressure from farming organisations to boost funding for the tillage sector, which has been left struggling as grain prices fell.
Tillage margins are under severe pressure as farming organisations have called for Government to live up to pre-general election promises. / Philip Doyle
Supports were announced for the tillage sector last year with an allocation of €30m to cover payments of €100/ha, just over €32m actually paid out.
The Programme for Government sets out to “invest significantly in the tillage sector over five years to maintain and grow the sector,” while the Climate Action Plan’s target of 400,000ha looms.
The tillage sector has called for €60m in funds for Budget 2026 in-line with pore-genera election promises from the Government parties.
Young farmers
One area not expected to see any major allocation of funds is farm succession, despite the eventual publication of the much-hyped final report from the Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming at the National Ploughing Championships.
The report called for lump sum payments of €25,000 apiece for young farmers taking over the land and the older farmer handing it down.
Minister Heydon played down the role any farm succession scheme could play before the next CAP takes effect – 2028 at the earliest – and advised those considering transferring control to the next generation not to “sit around for years” waiting on a scheme.
Wider fears
Budget 2026’s allocation for agriculture comes as the European Commission plans to cut ringfenced CAP funds by 20%, feeding longer-term fears for the future of farm payment schemes.
While not applicable until after 2027, Brussels does want to push responsibility for allocating each member states’ slice of the EU back to national Governments, as well as seeing any country that wants strong financial support for agriculture to do so in its national budgets.
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