The Government has given the green light to a €12 million package for farmers to incentivise them to increase crop production.
The package was brought to cabinet by Minster Charlie McConalogue against the backdrop of soaring prices for oil, animal feeds, fertiliser and other farm input costs.
Minister McConalogue said that while the window for planting crops is short, it is the start of the growing season.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said he is working with farming stakeholders to establish a national fodder and food security committee to ensure plans are made for the year ahead.
The minister said farmers have been asked to look at their capacity to grow additional grain.
“About 60% of the grain … that we use in the country is imported and internationally 30% of the grain that is exported comes from either the Ukraine or Russia, so that’s the challenge for the year ahead,” he said.
The minister said the package will give up to €400 per hectare to farmers who plant additional grain over and above what would have been there in the previous year.
Mr McConologue said he believes this will result in additional grain growing this year.
Reacting to news of the scheme today, tillage farmer and member of the Irish Grain Growers Group, Pat Cleary from Monasterevin Co Kildare said its a welcome development but he expressed reservations over how well it will work.
“It could work if land is available but a lot of land in the dairy sector is paddocked with road and fences. The only place it might work is on mixed farms but the timeframe is running out and the amount of additional available land is questionable. I don’t see where its coming from.”
IFA President Tim Cullinan said the tillage scheme is a small step towards encouraging more grain output in 2022.
He said the target of an extra 25,000 hectares is very modest. With full take up, it would be an increase of less than 10% on what was grown last year, which approximately 300,000ha.
“This scheme, along with the establishment of the Food Security and Fodder Committee, is not going to address the real issue which is the cost and availability of inputs,” he said.
ICSMA president Pat McCormack also welcomed the scheme but said the biggest challenge for dairy and livestock farmers in 2022 is the price of fertiliser – and that will have to be addressed both at national and EU level.
“Fertiliser prices have escalated to ridiculous levels and both Government and the EU is going to have to step in if we are to have the quantities necessary to grow the sufficient levels of grass needed to for the silage next winter. The lack of specific measures to support grassland is a glaring error that will have to be rectified sooner rather than later.”
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While, IFA Grain Chairman Kieran McEvoy said that while €12m seems like a big number, it is “not so big” when spread across the whole sector.
However, Mr McEvoy said they do welcome any money coming into the sector and it is an acknowledgement by the department that there is a crisis there.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, he said it is also an attempt to address the issue and not be so dependent on the importation of grain into the Irish market.
He said Ukraine has been a “good source of grains” for the European community over the last number of years, but that will likely not be available at least for the season going forward.
“Markets have been running tight anyway and were increasing before this war in Ukraine ever happened, and this just made the situation a lot worse and drove the markets out of proportion altogether,” Mr McEvoy said.
“There’s different things happening across the world. We had got used to good trade routes across the Black Sea, grain was moving freely and easily.
“Even before the invasion of Russia into Ukraine we saw the cost of shifting these grains moving upward because of the cost of shipping and oil.
“The perfect storm was coming and this is the final part of it.”
Mr McEvoy said the price of food “could become an issue” but he does not think Irish people need to panic about a food shortage, adding that enough food is still being produced here for over 40 million people.
New office to enforce unfair trading practice rules
Minister McConalogue will also seek Government approval to finalise new legislation promoting fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain.
The legislation, which will be enacted by the summer, will set up an office to analyse markets and enforce unfair trading practice rules.
Establishing a food ombudsman is a Programme for Government commitment, and while that title will not be used, the legislation would establish the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri Food Supply Chain.
The new office, with a board and a CEO, will be charged with ensuring fairness to producers by providing price data analysis and stopping unfair business to business practices within the agricultural and food supply chains.
Mr McConologue said: “It will implement and oversee the unfair trading practices which have been introduced at European level in which I’m transposing it to national level, but also really importantly as well it’s about ensuring that there’s transparency right across the food supply chain.”
He said it is an independent statutory office, which can report on pricing, on what is happening in the food supply chain.
“Ultimately, the objective here is to ensure that there’s fair play for those who are producing our food, particularly for the farm families across the country who put so much work and effort into producing food and deserve a fair income for that,” the minister added.
Additional reporting Joe Mag Raollaigh
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