Two- and three-crop rules must go, says tillage group

The two- and three-crop rules cannot be included in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Tillage Industry Ireland (TII) has said.

The group representing many sections of the tillage industry has said the crop diversification requirements have done their job and it is time to allow farmers make the most suitable cropping decisions for their individual farms.

“Crop diversification requirements, or the two- and three-crop rules, have had a positive impact on the tillage sector in Ireland. However, the requirements have done their job,” TII said.

“Ireland is over 90% grassland and many tillage farms now have five and six crops. The rule is now making tillage businesses less competitive by limiting the area of profitable crops grown and by adding to workload by splitting land blocks into three different crops adding to travel time and decreased efficiency.

Workload

“At a time when the Government’s aim is to increase tillage area the two-crop rule is resulting in farmers putting tillage land back into grass as they cannot justify the workload, input spend or calling a contractor to grow a small area of a second crop.”

On a recent visit to Brussels, TII met with top officials in arable crops at DG Agri who did not seem to be aware of the issues that this rule is causing for Irish farmers and they saw no need for it to be implemented knowing the background.

EU officials commented that allowances can be made in CAP rules for sectors in trouble, which could apply to Irish tillage.

MEP Seán Kelly told TII that countries can choose to go above or below what is required in the CAP guidelines and that Ireland goes above and beyond when it comes to implementing the rules.

“The tillage area is declining. We need to encourage farmers to grow tillage crops not deter them. As negotiations start for CAP 2027 crop diversification requirements should be excluded from these proposals,” TII said.

Package

On 14 May EU politicians and leaders will meet on the omnibus package which aims to reduce red tape and environmental reporting. The CAP is also expected to be simplified as part of this strategy to make the EU more competitive.