Protein crops such as faba beans are widely recognised as a valuable rotational crop that can break disease and weed cycles on Irish tillage farms, something which is of increasing significance as the sector moves towards lower pesticide usage rates.
Add to this their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, which significantly reduces their own production costs and that of future crops by way of the residual nitrogen left in the field after harvest.
In comparison to other crops like barley and wheat, leguminous crops have a deep rooting behaviour that can improve soil structure in fields suffering compaction issues.
Incentivisation
However, even with all these benefits, crops such as faba beans have only recently been grown at a significant acreage nationally.
This can be almost directly attributed to coupled incentivisation, through the protein aid payment, which has seen the area planted under these crops increase almost five-fold in the past 10 years since its introduction. This leads to the question: ‘What would happen if supports were reduced or removed?’
Cleaning beans.
Food products
Currently, faba beans, of which there were almost 90,000 tonnes produced in 2024, act as a source of indigenous protein for the animal feed sector.
However, research is also underway by Teagasc to examine their role as an ingredient in food production systems.
This research has come off the back of recent global market reports indicating that the plant-based food sector is set to increase between 6-10% year-on-year up to 2030.
Visitors at Crops and Technology will get a chance to hear from researchers working on new technologies and processing approaches that can further add value to Irish grown protein crops by transforming them into ingredients that can be used in everyday food products such as breads and beverages.
What will you see on the protein stand?
Field trials being undertaken on Irish protein crops.Experience the process of transforming these crops into ingredients for use in the food sector.See and taste some of the exciting products we can produce from protein crops. See different protein crops in the field.See the ingredients and some of the products that have been developed from mainstream protein crops grown by the Irish tillage sector.See the progress made to date.Meet and chat with the researchers.
Protein crops such as faba beans are widely recognised as a valuable rotational crop that can break disease and weed cycles on Irish tillage farms, something which is of increasing significance as the sector moves towards lower pesticide usage rates.
Add to this their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, which significantly reduces their own production costs and that of future crops by way of the residual nitrogen left in the field after harvest.
In comparison to other crops like barley and wheat, leguminous crops have a deep rooting behaviour that can improve soil structure in fields suffering compaction issues.
Incentivisation
However, even with all these benefits, crops such as faba beans have only recently been grown at a significant acreage nationally.
This can be almost directly attributed to coupled incentivisation, through the protein aid payment, which has seen the area planted under these crops increase almost five-fold in the past 10 years since its introduction. This leads to the question: ‘What would happen if supports were reduced or removed?’
Cleaning beans.
Food products
Currently, faba beans, of which there were almost 90,000 tonnes produced in 2024, act as a source of indigenous protein for the animal feed sector.
However, research is also underway by Teagasc to examine their role as an ingredient in food production systems.
This research has come off the back of recent global market reports indicating that the plant-based food sector is set to increase between 6-10% year-on-year up to 2030.
Visitors at Crops and Technology will get a chance to hear from researchers working on new technologies and processing approaches that can further add value to Irish grown protein crops by transforming them into ingredients that can be used in everyday food products such as breads and beverages.
What will you see on the protein stand?
Field trials being undertaken on Irish protein crops.Experience the process of transforming these crops into ingredients for use in the food sector.See and taste some of the exciting products we can produce from protein crops. See different protein crops in the field.See the ingredients and some of the products that have been developed from mainstream protein crops grown by the Irish tillage sector.See the progress made to date.Meet and chat with the researchers. 
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