“We are living in unprecedented times which has put our supply chains under enormous pressure,” this is according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.
As the government has sought measures to assist farmers facing the current crisis, the Minister has announced yet another package worth more than €12 million to encourage Irish tillage farmers to grow more crops. McConalogue is expected to seek approval for the latest measure this week as the proposal is yet to be set before Cabinet.
Due to the global impact on agriculture, food security, and global supply chains, the proposed package aims to support the production of more native crops and crops with a low demand for chemical fertiliser. The measure is expected to be divided into three categories, that being the following:
- Tillage Incentive Scheme will encourage farmers to grow additional crops such as barley, oats and wheat in 2022. A payment of €400 per hectare is being proposed but this may increase for crops like maize and fodder beet, due to higher production costs. The minister anticipates that a possible 25,000 additional hectares of these crops could be grown this year, leading to a total budget of €10 million
- Protein crops supports will reward farmers for growing more peas, beans and lupins. A payment of €300 per hectare is being earmarked here. It is also proposed that combi-crops (cereal/protein mix) would be included in this initiative. The target is to increase the volume of hectares under protein crops from 10,000 to 14,000
- Multi-Species Sward Scheme will see €2 million allocated to support the planting of 16,000 hectares of multi-species swards
The minister says that additional support for the growing of grass silage is expected to be explored in the coming weeks.