The adoption of a €92m tillage expansion and sustainability scheme is at the heart of the pre-budget submission from the Irish Grain Growers Group (IGG). The proposed scheme involves the payment of €350/ha for farmers up to 100ha, and the payment of €200/ha thereafter.

The IGG proposal requires the adoption of the three or more measures from a menu of actions that includes:

  • The reduction of chemical fertiliser usage.
  • The provision of 10% of farmland as space for nature.
  • The adoption of companion cropping (eg oats and buckwheat).
  • Usage of break crops (protein aid crops, rye, oats, OSR).
  • Use of organic fertilisers (straw incorporation, farmyard manure, slurry, digestate, compost).
  • Adoption of precision technologies (eg autosteer, low-drift nozzles, section control on sprayers and fertiliser spreaders).
  • The use of non-inversion tillage on 20% or more of the farm.
  • The proposed scheme also includes a tillage expansion support of €100/ha for five years, where lands are converted from grassland to tillage. IGG insists the adoption of scheme makes sense from a climate, economic and social perspective.

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    “The tillage expansion and sustainability scheme is not only a climate and biodiversity policy – it is also a strategic socio-economic investment in rural livelihoods, domestic food sovereignty, and long-term national resilience. It directly supports all three pillars of sustainability,” the IGG submission states.