71% of tillage farmers have less than 30ha

Figures from the Department of Agriculture for 2025 show that 71.4% of farmers with tillage in Ireland have 30ha of land or less.

In 2025, 11,440 farms had tillage crops. Of these, 4,464 farms had 10ha or less and 3,705 farms had 10ha to 30ha (25ac to 74ac).

These farmers with 10ha to 30ha have to comply with the two-crop rule (see Table 1).

Those with over 30ha have to comply with the three-crop rule. Some 3,271 farmers have over 30ha of tillage crops, just 29% of the total farms with tillage.

Of these farms, most are under 100ha. Farms with 30ha to 100ha of tillage equate to 2,552 farms – 22% of farms with tillage.

While there is an impression that tillage farms are in the main large farms, these figures show the opposite to this.

Only 600 farms or 5% of farms with tillage have 100ha to 200ha (247ac) of tillage crops, while only 93 farms have over 200ha (494ac) of tillage crops and 119 farms (1% of farms with tillage) have over 250ha (618ac) of tillage crops.

The number of farms with less than 10ha of tillage declined by 34 in 2025. This means 34 farms are likely to have left the sector.

The number of farms with 10ha to 30ha of tillage declined by 15 in 2025. These farms may have exited tillage or reduced tillage area to avoid the two-crop rule.

The number of farms with tillage declined by 11 from 2024 to 2025 to 11,440. However, since 2022 the number of farms with tillage has declined by 1,409.

The Tillage Incentive Scheme was brought in in 2022 and saw 12,849 farms grow tillage crops.

Two-crop rule exemption

Farmers with 10ha to 30ha of tillage crops have to comply with the two-crop rule. They must sow two crops, with the main crop not taking up more than 75% of the cropping area.

However, this year, there is an exception to this rule. Where a holding is less than 30ha, the farmer will not be penalised if they do not implement the two-crop rule.

The rule is still there, but farmers who do not enforce the rule will not be penalised and so do not have to comply.

To be clear, this only applies if the total holding is 30ha, so you may have 25ha of crops, but your holding could be 40ha.

In this case, you still have to comply with the two-crop rule or face a penalty.

The two- and three-crop rules are major barriers to tillage in Ireland, as farm size is small and profitable crops are limited.

These figures show the massive amount of farms affected by these rules. They need to be removed in the next CAP.

Farmers know the benefits of rotation and need to be able to grow to profitable markets.

The rules may also be contributing to the glut of oats currently sitting in sheds across the country, which has no demand.