Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said he is pushing to secure higher funding for the areas of the farm sector he sees as priorities as the unveiling of Budget 2027 is just over one month away.

Budget 2027 comes amid high farm input cost pressures that were exacerbated by a summer of tight grass growth in many parts of the country.

The current year’s budget was set against a backdrop of surging TB numbers that saw half of the Department of Agriculture’s entire €170m budget increase on the previous year’s allocation headed to fighting the disease.

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“I've always been really clear that if everything is a priority for me and my department, then nothing's a priority,” Minister Heydon told the Agricultural Science Association’s annual conference on Thursday.

“The aim for Budget 2027 is to deliver a sustainable budget package that enables my department to best support the incomes and long-term sustainability of our farmers, our fishers and our foresters in rural and coastal communities.

“It is my intention to secure additional funds for a number of priority areas that my Department covers.”

EU budget

Minister Heydon will welcome agriculture ministers from right across the EU to Ireland on Monday as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The meeting comes as major elements of the future of farm payments remain on ice as agreement is awaited on the next EU budget.

When asked for a response to last week’s high-profile move by six net contributor member states to up the ante on their counterparts to reduce the next EU budget by several hundreds billion euros, Minister Heydon said on Thursday that “there are lots of countries with lots to say” and it is Ireland’s role over the coming months to take these views on board.

“Plenty of member states have a lot of different views and we're listening to them all and that's the job as presidency and we'll reflect them in our in our future negotiations," he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“The Agri-Fish Council will be of a very clear view of where we need to be on our overall budget for agriculture and the CAP in that.

“But from my perspective, I'm very clear that we need an adequately funded cap that can deliver for food security.”