Tillage Sector Drives Home Funding Message to Minister at Crisis Meeting
IFA President Francie Gorman said the tillage meeting held in Killashee Hotel last night sent a clear message to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon that the sector is in a crisis and he has to support it.
“The crowd of 1,000 farmers packed into the hotel was one of the largest seen for years and underlines the fear there is about the future of tillage farming in Ireland. We had a unified front – IFA, Irish Grain Growers, Tillage Industry Ireland, Tillage Food Vision, and merchants – to drive home the message to the Minister,” he said.
The IFA President said Minister Heydon acknowledged the challenges in the sector, but he did not commit to funding in next month’s Budget.
“Budget ’26 will be delivered in just over three weeks. Minister Heydon knows himself that this will be seen as a key test of his ability to represent farmers at the Cabinet table. We’re looking for the commitments in the Programme for Government to be honoured. If that doesn’t happen, it will leave tillage farming in an even more precarious place.”
IFA Grain Chair Kieran McEvoy said the massive turnout reflected the level of morale in the sector. “Farmers are feeling the pressure, but they also want to fight for what they have built up. We will continue our campaign right up to Oct 7th to secure funding for growers.”
“The majority of farmers are facing a loss-making scenario after the harvest, and these losses could be very substantial for growers exposed to rented or leased land,” he said.
“Native, Irish grain prices are being undermined by cheap imports of feedstuffs from outside the EU. These imports are subject to much lower production standards and regulations around the use of plant protection products and genetically modified seeds. The playing pitch has never been so unlevel,” he said.
