The Department of Agriculture has said that “good progress is being made” in implementing the Food Vision Tillage Report which has 28 actions.
Two years on from the announcement that the Food Vision Tillage Group would be formed and almost one year since that group’s final report was published on 14 May 2024, the Irish Farmers Journalrequested an update on progress from the Department of Agriculture.
The most concerning action in the report for farmers related to the introduction of a tillage expansion and sustainability scheme which would provide another income stream.
“This action is dependent on the allocation of funding and Government approval. The Department has received proposals from stakeholders in respect of a scheme,” a spokesperson for the Department said.
Despite a decline in tillage area of approximately 7,000ha over the past two years, while the report was being worked on, and another expected decline - by industry - this year the Department says “the overall area of tillage crops has remained relatively stable” and the Government “wants to grow the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030”.
That was the target first outlined in the Government’s Climate Action Plan in 2022.
Access to land
Referring to the challenge of access to land, the Department said “the decisions on whether to grow tillage crops are a matter for the growers”.
The Department is considering recommendations from the tillage group in relation to taxation and said the recommendations related to taxation supports and policies to manage income volatility are included in the Programme for Government.
Helping to meet the action to facilitate and encourage the exchange of nutrients between livestock and tillage farmers to alleviate pressure on land, the Department has provided additional support under TAMS through the Nutrient Importation Scheme and enhanced grant aid for nutrient storage.
A sub-group of the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group is also due to convene to consider the issues and develop proposals to further increase the exchange of nutrients between livestock and tillage farms.
AgNav in June
Teagasc will release AgNav to tillage farmers on 25 June. This tool will calculate the carbon footprint and sustainability credentials of Irish grain for the marketplace.
The Department added: “Separately, there are exploratory talks ongoing regarding a Sustainable Quality Assurance Scheme for tillage involving Bord Bia, the Department and industry stakeholders.”
Other actions for which work is ongoing:
A focused working group will examine opportunities for an Irish model of crop/price insurance.The impact of solar farming on competition for land currently in tillage was highlighted by the Food Vision Tillage Group. The Department of Agriculture said decisions on land use are a matter for farmers themselves, but the Government has committed to introduce planning guidelines for solar farms which the Department will have an input in.The Department has provided additional funding to Teagasc to support the national brewing and distilling centre at Oakpark and to the flavour chemistry laboratory at Moorepark.Enterprise Ireland has provided funding to Teagasc, Moorepark, to develop a plant-based ingredients research pilot facility.The Department awarded funding to University College Cork (UCC) in December 2024 to investigate the feasibility of oilseed processing in Ireland.The Department has engaged with work on the feasibility of capital supports for viable proposals for the development of flour milling in Ireland.The Department also awarded funding to Teagasc in December 2024 to investigate the feasibility of organic feed milling in Ireland.
The Department of Agriculture has said that “good progress is being made” in implementing the Food Vision Tillage Report which has 28 actions.
Two years on from the announcement that the Food Vision Tillage Group would be formed and almost one year since that group’s final report was published on 14 May 2024, the Irish Farmers Journalrequested an update on progress from the Department of Agriculture.
The most concerning action in the report for farmers related to the introduction of a tillage expansion and sustainability scheme which would provide another income stream.
“This action is dependent on the allocation of funding and Government approval. The Department has received proposals from stakeholders in respect of a scheme,” a spokesperson for the Department said.
Despite a decline in tillage area of approximately 7,000ha over the past two years, while the report was being worked on, and another expected decline - by industry - this year the Department says “the overall area of tillage crops has remained relatively stable” and the Government “wants to grow the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030”.
That was the target first outlined in the Government’s Climate Action Plan in 2022.
Access to land
Referring to the challenge of access to land, the Department said “the decisions on whether to grow tillage crops are a matter for the growers”.
The Department is considering recommendations from the tillage group in relation to taxation and said the recommendations related to taxation supports and policies to manage income volatility are included in the Programme for Government.
Helping to meet the action to facilitate and encourage the exchange of nutrients between livestock and tillage farmers to alleviate pressure on land, the Department has provided additional support under TAMS through the Nutrient Importation Scheme and enhanced grant aid for nutrient storage.
A sub-group of the Agriculture Water Quality Working Group is also due to convene to consider the issues and develop proposals to further increase the exchange of nutrients between livestock and tillage farms.
AgNav in June
Teagasc will release AgNav to tillage farmers on 25 June. This tool will calculate the carbon footprint and sustainability credentials of Irish grain for the marketplace.
The Department added: “Separately, there are exploratory talks ongoing regarding a Sustainable Quality Assurance Scheme for tillage involving Bord Bia, the Department and industry stakeholders.”
Other actions for which work is ongoing:
A focused working group will examine opportunities for an Irish model of crop/price insurance.The impact of solar farming on competition for land currently in tillage was highlighted by the Food Vision Tillage Group. The Department of Agriculture said decisions on land use are a matter for farmers themselves, but the Government has committed to introduce planning guidelines for solar farms which the Department will have an input in.The Department has provided additional funding to Teagasc to support the national brewing and distilling centre at Oakpark and to the flavour chemistry laboratory at Moorepark.Enterprise Ireland has provided funding to Teagasc, Moorepark, to develop a plant-based ingredients research pilot facility.The Department awarded funding to University College Cork (UCC) in December 2024 to investigate the feasibility of oilseed processing in Ireland.The Department has engaged with work on the feasibility of capital supports for viable proposals for the development of flour milling in Ireland.The Department also awarded funding to Teagasc in December 2024 to investigate the feasibility of organic feed milling in Ireland. 
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