Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon will attend Tillage Day this Thursday 5 November.
The Minister will attend the final part of the conference, hear the findings from the day and the focus points that tillage farmers have brought up throughout the day.
Chief among the topics will no doubt be margins. Grain price rises did not match the increase in input costs.
The Minister will attend the conference at a challenging time for the sector. In 2026, 676 farmers left tillage. The area declined by 0.66% to 344,675ha, at a time when the Government’s climate action plan aims to hit 400,000ha by 2030.
Opportunities
However, there are opportunities for the sector if they are built on. More targeted use of native grain in animal feed and a review of the whiskey technical file are key among those opportunities.
As Ireland finishes out its EU presidency, we look to the new Common Agricultural Policy, where tillage could receive targeted supports which could help make up for the decimation of payments in recent years.
A support payment for tillage is a key action in the Food Vision tillage report and was outlined in the Programme for Government and in election manifestos.
Tillage Day will cover agronomy advice, markets, EU policy and adding value to Irish grain throughout the day. It is a day focused on farmers and helping to make improvements on farms.
Tillage Day takes place on Thursday 5 November in The Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, Co Kildare.
It is organised by the Irish Farmers Journal and supported by the Irish Seed Trade Association. To purchase tickets, you can log on to www.ifj.ie/tillageday or phone 01-419 9525.
To view the full agenda, click here.
