Imports of wheat, barley and maize into the country increased dramatically in 2024, according to raw data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The majority of this was used to produce animal feed.

A total of 527,603t of what the CSO call “other wheat”, which is mainly used for animal feed, was imported. That was up 197,717t on 2023.

Barley imports increased by 241,215t to 528,025t in 2024. Maize imports were also up. In 2023, 1,240,544t maize were imported and in 2024 1,480,064t were imported. That is an increase of 239,520t.

There is no differentiation in the figures between grain used for animal feed and grain used for food or drinks production which would include malting barley and maize for distilling.

Where did this grain come from?

The figures included on this page show where the majority of the grain came from. Canada was the main supplier of maize, accounting for 58% (847,563t) of the 1.48m tonnes imported.

Ukraine was another big supplier, while Northern Ireland was listed as supplying over 113,00t, but the original origin of this maize is not known as this is corn maize and is not grown in Northern Ireland.

Almost 530,000t of wheat came into the country. Poland was our biggest supplier at 101,893t, followed by Ukraine, Northern Ireland (the majority of which is unlikely to have been produced in Northern Ireland as the amount exported is too large at 75,857), Germany and France.

Germany was our biggest barley supplier at 160,511t, followed by Great Britain at 118,989t and Poland at 83,533t.

Approximately 676,572t of oil cake or soybean meal were imported in 2024. Argentina supplied the majority at 419,206t, while the US supplied 91,411t.

Soya hulls were also imported, along with many other products like palm kernel and beet pulp from countries including the US, Latvia, Russia, France and Germany.

Malt imports

Malt imports have declined. In 2024, 10,239t were imported, down from 14,376t the year before.

Hungary, supplied a massive 3,048t of malt, having supplied none in 2023. Netherlands was the second biggest suppliers of malt at 3,012t. Great Britain supplied 1,704t and Northern Ireland supplied 1,395t, while Belgium supplied 652t. The remainder were small amounts, which may be speciality malts.

Comment

Ireland needs to import animal feed. As an island we need about 8m tonnes of feed, about 6m tonnes of this in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). In the past, we produced about 2.2m tonnes of cereal grains in ROI.

However, in recent years this has declined to about 1.9m tonnes due to weather impacting on yield and declines in winter cereal production, as well as cereal area.

Approximately 400,000-500,000t of this grain is used for food and drinks.

Ireland is a long way off being self sufficient in animal feed. That is a reality. Imports are needed. However, we cannot continue to ignore the fact that the tillage area is declining and, as is the case this year, feed imports have increased.

The Government is failing in its target to increase tillage area and new nitrates rules are resulting in land moving directly from tillage to grassland, ultimately resulting in more grains being imported.

Irish grain is non-GM and follows strict rules on pesticide use. The majority of maize and soya coming into Ireland is GM and much of the grain from non-EU countries is produced using technologies and chemicals banned in Ireland.

A value needs to be placed on Irish grain by the meat and dairy sectors. Consumers are paying a premium for environmentally-friendly products and Ireland can tap into that using Irish grain to produce high-value dairy and meat products.