James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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482. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which he plans to protect the future of suckler and tillage farming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43012/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am very conscious of the importance of both the suckler and tillage sectors to Ireland's rural economy and the challenges currently facing both sectors.

My Department is providing a number of supports to the suckler herd. The Beef Data and Genomics Programme is the main support for the suckler sector and provides farmers with some €300 million of funding over Rural Development Programme period.

In response to significant demand, earlier this year I reopened the BDGP programme for new entrants, reflecting the success of this programme, which targets both the environmental footprint and the profitability of the suckler herd through improving the genetic merit in participating herds. There are currently 25,669 participants.

There are a number of challenges facing the beef sector including the suckler sector in the short and medium term, particularly exchange rate volatility and Brexit. One of my priorities now is to further increase the market opportunity for Irish food and drink internationally. We are an exporting nation, with 90% of our food produce leaving the island. By further increasing our footprint internationally we can make a contribution to mitigating the effects of Brexit and develop our agri-food sector to realise its full potential. 

Live exports also play a vital role in providing an alternative market outlet for Irish farmers, including weanlings from the suckler herd at this time of year. It is an area that I have paid particular attention to since taking up office. Live exports for the year to date are up by over 50,000 head, or 48% compared to 2016.

I remain actively committed to ensuring that Irish beef producers have the option of exporting to as many markets as possible and my Department and state agencies such as Bord Bia continue to work to ensure that any increase from the suckler herd can deliver a viable return to the primary producer and protect the national suckler herd.   

Turning to tillage, this is a very important sector , and the Deputy will be aware of a number of measures introduced to underpin the tillage sector and promote its growth into the future.

Among these was a targeted crop loss support measure to assist growers most affected by the wet weather harvest conditions of September 2016.

In addition to the support measure for those worst affected, I also introduced the Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme which I specifically extended to include the Tillage and Horticulture sector. I have been advised by the banks that all of the €150m is committed and is in the process of being drawn down. I am pleased at the very positive reaction by farmers, including tillage farmers, to the Scheme, which has proved that significant demand exists for low cost flexible finance.

As a further support to tillage farmers I also introduced the Tillage Investment Scheme under TAMS II which opened for online applications earlier this year. The second tranche closed on 6 October 2017.  There was a significant level of interest in investments under this measure particularly in relation to precision equipment to improve profitability at farm level, with a total number of 490 applications received in the first tranche for the tillage sector alone. 450 approvals have now issued in respect of these and payments and approvals are issuing on an ongoing basis.

Additionally, a range of other supports provide vital income and investment support to both sectors including BPS, ANC, GLAS and TAMS.