Tillage Sector: Statements Dail Éireann — 2025-10-15 ============================================================ Ryan O'Meara (FF), Tipperary North Tá mé beagnach tinn inniu agus dá bhrí sin, ní bheidh mé ag caint ach ar feadh cúpla nóiméad. I thank both the Minister and the Minister of State for being here this evening for this debate. I welcome these statements on this important topic. It is an issue that has been repeatedly raised with me by constituents, particularly in the lead-up to the budget. The tillage sector is a critical part of the agrifood sector producing high-quality animal feed, bedding and ingredients for the food and drink industry. It contributes over €1.3 billion annually to the national economy despite comprising only 5% of total agricultural area. We have heard from others here this evening but I would also like to point out that the area under tillage has experienced a 40% reduction over the past 40 years. On taking over the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine between 2020 and 2024, Fianna Fáil worked hard to deliver investment both on the farm and in industry and to provide tangible financial supports for farmers and I recognise that the current Government, and particularly the Minister and Minister of State, have continued that hard work over the past year. The supports include specific supports for the tillage sector, such as the protein aid scheme worth €10.9 million, the straw incorporation measure payments of €15.5 million and the tillage incentive scheme worth €8.5 million in expenditure and €14.3 million paid to tillage farmers by way of the once-off unharvested crop support scheme. Fianna Fáil wants the tillage sector to continue to grow and develop, and we need it to. We are acutely aware of the challenges facing the sector and are fully committed to delivering on the huge potential of the tillage sector. Protecting farm family incomes is an absolute priority for Fianna Fáil. It was a priority for me during the general election campaign. When it comes to generational renewal, which is something coming to me massively from younger farmers in particular, financial viability around the family farm is crucial. That is the major challenge that we are seeing for those in tillage at present. We want Irish agriculture to be a world leader in terms of innovation, sustainability and value and we want Irish farmers and their families to thrive. The area under tillage has fallen by 40% in the last 40 years. According to the IFA, the recent decline in area can be principally attributed to a reduction in cereal production of 50,000 ha since 2012. Ireland has one of the lowest percentages of land devoted to arable cropping in the EU 27, at 6.5% of utilisable agricultural area, despite the fact that 36% of Irish soils or approximately 2.5 million ha are being classified as highly or moderately suitable for tillage production. Essentially, in one sentence, what tillage farmers are telling me is that they are facing high input prices; competition for land; land prices obviously going through the roof, particularly for leases; and low global prices. I fully appreciate that we are fully susceptible as an open economy to global trends. That is having a massive impact at the moment, particularly for those men and women in tillage who are coming to me and saying that land prices are crippling them at present while the price for their product is so low. Budget 2026 provides funding of at least €50 million to the tillage sector, which I welcome. This will be channelled through the protein aid scheme, the straw incorporation measure and the tillage support scheme. I welcome the Minister's comment that there will be consultation with stakeholders on this. I look forward to consulting my constituents and feeding that back to him as well. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:13+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-10-15