Peter 'Chap' Cleere
Ceist:6. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the way in which budget 2027 will deliver for tillage farmers. [70946/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 October 2026
Ceisteanna (6)
Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)
How will budget 2027 deliver for farmers, particularly tillage farmers?
The tillage sector is an integral part of Irish farming and makes a significant contribution to overall agricultural output, no more so than in Carlow-Kilkenny, which the Deputy represents. The Government recognises the importance of the sector and the challenges it has faced this year and in recent years, particularly higher input costs and the impacts of prolonged dry weather on crop yields and quality. It is the Government's ambition to grow the area in tillage in the years ahead. In recognition of the sector’s importance, my Department is providing at least €50 million in financial support to the tillage sector in 2026 through the protein aid scheme, the straw incorporation measure, SIM, and the national tillage sustainability scheme. Some €30 million in payments under this scheme were issued last March. Additionally, in April this year in response to the exceptional pressure arising from the sudden increase in the cost of marked gas oil, MGO, the Government allocated additional finance to provide meaningful income support for farmers, contractors and fishers.
I also made the decision this year in a very constrained budget scenario to meet the additional asks under straw incorporation because, as has been the case in every year, applications for that far exceeded the €10 million I had allocated for it and I did not want to leave anyone behind. However, that exhausted my SIM budget a year early. Some €50 million was allocated under the CAP strategic plan until the end of 2027 and I exhausted that a year early. It meant I went into these budget negotiations with technically no money for straw next year. Instead of fighting for €50 million, I was starting at a point of €40 million. I was committed to accepting all applicants into the straw incorporation measure this year to give that economic boost, and farmers had the flexibility to withdraw from the scheme in certain circumstances, for example, where straw was required for livestock or the mushroom sector. This helped to safeguard supply across all sectors, which is particularly important this year, given the impact of the prolonged dry weather on fodder.
The farming for water European innovation partnership, EIP, has a budget of €60 million to support targeted on-farm additional measures to improve water quality. That includes the establishment of cover crops. I am delighted to see the tillage sector getting a significant boost from that. It is not just for the dairy sector; everyone has a role to play in terms of water quality.
I thank the Minister. As he knows, we need to ensure that family farms continue to be viable. The importance of food security cannot be underestimated. I welcome the additional €4 million to last year's €50 million. The tillage sector contributes about €1.3 billion annually to the Irish economy, but the sector is in decline and the area under tillage in Ireland has reduced by 40% over the last 40 years. We are not tilling as much land as we were previously. This is the result of numerous pressures on the sector but high-input costs, as the Minister has outlined, are a huge challenge and we need to support farmers in that regard. The competition for land is becoming a major issue, particularly in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Then there are the low global grain prices as well. We now have one of the lowest percentages of land devoted to arable cropping among EU countries, at about 6.5% of the utilisable agricultural area. It is a significant challenge and problem.
I acknowledge and welcome the additional supports that will be put in place, but we need to continue to keep a strong eye on this to future-proof the sector in the short, medium and long terms.
I agree. Everything I do has the tillage sector in mind. When I was fighting for an extension of the nitrates derogation for the three years I secured last year, the tillage sector was in my mind as much as the dairy sector. Those farmers the Deputy talks about who are fighting for land availability for tillage in his constituency are competing with dairy farmers, and if dairy farmers had required more land, the Deputy knows what that would have done to the rental market and the pressure it would have applied. When comparing dairy incomes and tillage incomes, there was only going to be one winner in that scenario.
In addition, the tillage sector has received €12.6 million in support under the tillage capital investment scheme under the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS, III and receives support under ACRES and the organic farming scheme.
In addition to these supports, the report of the Food Vision 2030 tillage group sets out the roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the tillage sector. Implementation of the recommendations is ongoing, with progress reviewed regularly by the group. That is another important element of the work and support there.
I welcome in particular the national fertiliser scheme that was announced in the budget. It is a €46.1 million pot in total, and €31 million of that is coming from the Government. The Minister might outline for the House what exactly that might look like for farmers in terms of actual money back in their pockets and how quickly we can get the scheme set up, get it administered and get that funding back into the accounts of farmers. As the Minister knows, it has been a very challenging number of months for the agriculture sector in total but for the tillage sector in particular, what with the summer we have had. It would be great to know how quickly we can get that funding into the accounts.
I had two strands of approach to my budget negotiations. One was to secure funding for important schemes into next year and to hit my key priority areas like supporting the tillage sector, which is important. Second was quick money to farmers in light of the significant impact the energy shocks have had. I was back down to €40 million in terms of my negotiations. I was delighted to get another €14 million for straw to be able to give certainty to tillage farmers. There will be a straw incorporation measure next year and €14 million for it, which will meet the requirements, as previous years' experience would tell us. That is a €54 million package for tillage in total, an increase on last year's €50 million, and that is important.
In terms of the fertiliser scheme, the exceptional aid measure from the EU provided us with €15.4 million and, importantly, the ability to top it up by 200%. Not every member state has done this. This is something I have been negotiating on for the past number of months. I am delighted to get the approval. I have a scheme of €46.1 million. I am finalising the details of how that will operate. I have a significant amount of work done on it already. I plan to make it really simple and really quick, with no administrative burden on farmers and getting money into their pockets before the end of this year based on fertiliser usage and last year's fertiliser database.