The Irish Grain Growers Group (IGGG) has welcomed Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue's commitment to increase the tillage area to 400,000ha by 2030 at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis.

However, it said that Saturday’s announcement of financial support of €40/acre has “fallen well short of the investment needed to achieve the Government's climate action plan goal in relation to the tillage sector and cannot subtract from other budgets historically directed at other measures supporting the tillage sector.”

The IGGG has called for an €80m investment in the tillage sector and says that “support payments cannot be the norm going forward”.

"It's not what tillage farmers want. It's not how we want to attract new blood into the sector, which is badly needed.

Credentials

"Our climate change credentials are being proven. Tillage, in a mostly grass-based Ireland, is biodiversity in itself.

"This Government must invest more in the tillage sector. We must prove ourselves worthy of investing in also," the group said.

The group said that the financial support announced must be new money.

"It cannot subtract from other budgets historically directed at other measures supporting the tillage sector," it said.