Michael Moloney of the Department of Agriculture has said that approximately 2,000 applications have been made under the Tillage Incentive Scheme to date. He was speaking at the latest National Fodder and Feed Security Committee meeting on 8 July.

The closing date for the scheme is 20 July 2022 and he expects applications to reach 4,000 and that the scheme will use the budget assigned.

A budget of €12 million was announced to fund a payment of €400/ha for land entering tillage from grass, as well as underpinning the protein aid payment at €300/ha, providing a €150/ha payment for protein cereal mix crops and €2 million for multispecies swards and red clover planting. Michael expects the budget to be used.

No P and K for autumn

In the meantime, Liam Dunphy of the Irish Fertiliser Manufacturers and Blenders Association stated that there is no P and K in the country at present for autumn and no one is asking for it at current record-high prices. He was referring to products like 0-7-30.

It was highlighted by both teagasc and the Irish Grain Growers Group that there is a nervousness in the tillage sector about planting winter crops with uncertainty around fertiliser.

Increase in tillage area

Earlier in the meeting, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that we need to build the area of tillage in this country.

Minister McConalogue said it was great to see the uptake in relation to the Tillage Incentive Scheme and increasing the area of protein crops and mixed protein crops.

"Tillage farmers have made a real effort to grow more," he stated. He said that he wanted to see proposals from the committee on how to increase the tillage area and become more self-sufficient.

The meeting also heard updates on fodder supplies for the different sectors.