In this week's paper, we carried the first sitdown interview with Martin Heydon, the new Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

You can read his views on CAP, nitrates, Mercosur, trade and on current support schemes here.

We carry more of that interview here, covering succession, the vexed question of land use, and the future for the Straw Incorporation Measure, which proved so controversial in 2024.

Irish Farmers Journal: Farm succession was one of the big issues through 2024. What is your view?

Martin Heydon: "Succession is one of my key objectives as Minister. The aging farming population is something happening internationally; it’s not unique to us in Ireland. It is a significant problem, with many contributing factors.

"That next generation - farmers' sons and daughters - are going to school and college with their peers and see they can earn more through career options outside farming.

"Are they being asked to accept a lesser quality life or lesser income from that?

"I think it's too simplistic to just talk about payments for young farmers, it’s also about the need for farm incomes to be competitive.

"We need viable pathways for young farmers to get into farming; to look at the supports that exist and review them with a very open mind. We similarly have to look at barriers, like access to land.

“But you can't have the conversation just about being young trained farmers and not talk about supporting the generation who have given a lifetime of service to the sector, who have a huge amount of corporate knowledge and a lot to give.

"I think the previous farm retirement scheme was a very flawed model. I knew farmers who had so much knowledge and so much to still give, but, at 59 years of age, having taken the early retirement scheme - they were afraid of being caught walking across their yard carrying a bucket, because all the payment could have all been taken away.

"That, to me, is anathema to our Irish farming system, because Irish farmers never retire. They might take a step back physically, but definitely never stop farming in their mind. And we want to facilitate that, to allow farmers able to take a step back, but still have a role there.

"I don't think you can have that conversation without talking about how you support the transition of the older generation with all that experience into the mix as well.

"Minister McConalogue began that review on generation renewal, and I would be very keen to look at the results of that review and to act quickly in this space. This is not something that I see taking years. We need certainty around supporting younger farmers and new entrants.

Irish Farmers Journal: Minister, there are a number of land uses being incentivised and promoted by Government, ranging from maintaining livestock numbers, increasing tillage area, feedstock for anaerobic digestion, solar and wind generation, forestry and space for nature. There isn't enough land to fulfil all these ambitions, is there?

Martin Heydon: "Land use strategy is at the heart of what we're doing. It's true we have a number of schemes which are probably competing with each other in terms of incentivising land use for forestry to organics and others.

"And that's not lost on me when we see some of the eye-watering amounts of money that we've put to those sectors in the last couple of years.

I had arguments with Eamon Ryan in the last government that I was very uneasy with the developer-led model that he was driving

"One area that really resonates with me is solar. More luck to farmers who see that as an option for them, either some who are doing it in a part-time basis and then can still farm the land in a less intensive way or those who are looking at it 100%.

"I had arguments with Eamon Ryan in the last government that I was very uneasy with the developer-led model that he was driving.

"There was no direction to the local authorities, where it was up to their own kind of development plan and it was basically where every developer who applied, the local authority interpreted it their own way. And it was very much down to what the developer applied for, I think that's wrong.

"In the Fine Gael manifesto, we looked to introduce planning guidelines on solar and upgrade the ones on wind. We absolutely have huge potential in the area of renewables.

"When it comes to anaerobic digestion we have clear commitments and it’s important for government to give that option to farmers as well. On that one, I'm really determined that we have a community-led, farmer-owned, landowner-owned, locally-owned system.

"There's no reason we can't have energy co-ops the same we developed food co-ops, where farmers aren’t price takers, but are in at the start and early. And I see huge opportunities, particularly in the area of biogas and beyond.

"But on the solar point, we are sitting here in south Kildare, some of the best agricultural land in the country. Not too far from 300 to 400 acres will be covered in solar panels, because it got planning permission for it.

Struggle

"The farmer in me struggles with that and thinks that that is prime agricultural land for producing the food that is going to be needed in the context of a growing global population.

"And I do think some direction around where that (land use) goes is important, but also very mindful of the fact that our constitution very clearly has very strong property rights enshrined for landowners and that's right, I would fight to protect that. But I do think we should be having a conversation around what our land is used for.

"We also have to be mindful of the fact that your very first question today was around income and if farmers can take additional income from renewables and help them to supplement their income by continuing to produce top-quality food, that's something I'm all for as well. It's just about balance."

Irish Farmers Journal: Will there be a a Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) in 2025? If so, will it address fears among people who regularly participate in the scheme that it will be massively oversubscribed this year? They are concerned that people will apply purely in case a baling assistance payment is later added.

Martin Heydon: "Straw incorporation will be impacted by the decisions of last year in terms of what people do. We're going to give very clear direction before people fill out their forms as to how it will operate.

"I was very vocal on the changes made to the scheme last summer. I strongly believe in the SIM. I think it's a great example of how we can support farmers to make interventions that actually cost money, but that are really beneficial.

"And I know plenty of farmers who had their doubts about it, who now would probably still incorporate straw because they've seen the merits of building up the organic matter in their soil.

"So, as a general principle, I'm all in favour of straw incorporation. I think it's a very important tool, but also a great way to support the tillage sector, which has been hard to do so in recent years.

"The finer details we still have to walk through. I am only in my second day and I want to make sure we don't make any off-the-cuff policy decisions, but we'll make sure any decisions we make are well thought through."

Irish Farmers Journal: How does your previous experience as Minister of State inform you in your new role?

Martin Heydon: "Obviously, my experience in the new markets portfolio gives me a lot of insight into trade issues, which are so topical and important to Ireland as a nation that exports 90% of our meat and dairy produce.

"I also learned a lot in my time as Minister of State for research and innovation. We face a global challenge of producing more food for a growing population, with less land, less inputs like fertiliser and pesticides, and more challenging climactic conditions. The only way we can achieve this is by innovation and Ireland can be a leader in this way. I'll be driving on innovation and research as Minister.

"Most people don't realise that the Department of Agriculture is the fourth-biggest spender on research among all State departments. I was very proud to get the research allocation up to €22m in the last budget.

"That is being spent on meeting the many challenges we face today, on breeding, animal welfare, climate, biodiversity. Nine years ago, we invested heavily in research on multi-species swards (MSS), which require little or no nitrogen application.

"Farmers didn't pay much attention to it at that time. We saw MSS initial adoption by farmers during the drought in 2018 and then much more widely in 2022 when fertiliser prices rocketed.

"I realise there can be a lag time between research and adoption, we are very lucky in this country to have Teagasc, who are the link between research and quick farmer adoption through the advisory service.

"Our Signpost farms are a brilliant way of doing this. I am acutely aware that farmers are massively influenced by what their neighbours do and willing to innovate when they see something working at farm level."