A national forum to discuss the many challenges and issues in the tillage sector has been requested by IFA. President Joe Healy called on Minister Creed in his address to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday to urgently establish and convene such a forum.

Healy suggested that a forum should comprise key industry stakeholders to devise an action plan to address the serious and deepening income crisis in the tillage sector. He said that “Irish grain farmers are facing a severe income drop this season of up to €100m due to a combination of poorer prices, convergence in Greening and Basic Payments, high input and working capital costs coupled with reduced yields and crops that may not be harvested.”

Mr Healy acknowledged that “Without political intervention, Ireland’s tillage sector is in imminent danger of collapse, with major implications for the entire livestock sector and our world-renowned drinks industry. The Irish cereal area has fallen by over 100,000ac since 2012 and this trend will accelerate unless there is a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for grain growers.”

Amongst the issues that need to be considered is a specific aid package for the tillage sector; the development of an Irish grain certification scheme; priority access to low-cost working capital; increased GLAS payments; increased funding for a higher protein crop area; and a reduction in the burden of compliance for greening.