Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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26. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the ongoing reduction in land being allocated for tillage crops and especially cereals over the past five years; his plans to offer support and advice to tillage farmers who have sustained significant losses in terms of crop yield and consequently income in that period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18312/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Firstly I want to put on record that I am committed to supporting this very important sector which plays a key role in the development of the wider agri-food industry. The tillage sector is an important and integral component of the Agri-food industry, making a significant contribution to overall agricultural output. Crop production as a whole including Horticulture contributes in the region of €700 million annually to agricultural output at farm gate prices. In particular the cereals sector is a major contributor to livestock production providing high quality grain to the animal feeding industry. Tillage is also a key source of seed production, grain for the milling and malting industry and as a consequence is a significant stakeholder in our agri-food industry from a supply/food safety and sustainability viewpoint.

I acknowledge that cereal production has experienced a number of challenging years both in terms of grain price and weather conditions. Ireland accounts for only 1% or so of EU production and so grain prices here are very much affected by European and world market price shifts. The annual cereal area has reduced in recent years. For example, in 2017 the national cereals area reduced by about 10,000 ha to 270,000. However despite the decline in the area dedicated to cereals the level of output has been maintained at approximately 2.3 million tonnes. This is a tribute to the excellence of our tillage farmers in producing the highest yields of top quality food and feed materials.

I would like to highlight the actions my Department is undertaking to assist this vital sector. In 2017 I introduced the €150m Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme and extended it to cover the tillage and horticulture sectors. There was a very positive reaction by farmers, including tillage farmers, to the Scheme, which has proved that significant demand exists for low cost flexible finance. The “Agriculture Cashflow Loan Scheme” has provided a template for access to finance schemes, including the recently announced “Brexit Loan Scheme” for SMEs.

In view of the difficult weather conditions this spring, I have requested a derogation from the European Commission in relation to the Crop Diversification (“3 crop rule”) requirement as part of Greening for 2018. I am confident of a favourable response. As a consequence of alternative crop options no longer being available to farmers, growers can make crop choices that best suit their current situation.

In 2017, €3m was paid out to Irish farmers under the EU Protein Aid Scheme, primarily for the production of beans. Almost 14,000 hectares was sown by 1,200 growers under the measure and this is a significant increase from the 3,500 hectares that were sown prior to the introduction of the scheme thus highlighted the success of the Scheme. I was pleased to announce earlier this year the extension to the Protein Aid Scheme for 2018 with the same level of funding as 2017 thereby providing continued financial support to the growing of protein crops also providing a valuable break crop option.

On a broader front, the EU is in deficit in relation to plant protein for animal feed and currently imports 75% of its plant derived protein requirements. In this context, the Commission is committed to preparing a report on plant proteins that will build on existing knowledge and national/regional experiences. From Ireland’s perspective I will support measures designed to increase production of protein crops in Europe and request the continuation of the Protein Aid Scheme for the growing of protein crops in Ireland.

As a further support to tillage farmers the Tillage Capital Investment Scheme under TAMS II covers specific areas of investment including Minimum Disturbance Tillage Equipment, Sprayers, Fertiliser Spreaders and increasing Grain Storage and Drying capacity. There has been a significant level of interest in investments under this measure with a total number of 1015 applications received so far and 779 approvals. Over €2.63m has now issued in respect of 239 payment claims. The measure continues to be open to further applications.

In addition to TAMS, the GLAS tiered entry system prioritised tillage farmers who chose the “minimum tillage” or “catch crop establishment” environmental actions. Furthermore in order to assist tillage farmers, and in particular specialist malting barley growers, my department decided to grant a special exemption from the Basic Payment Scheme Crop Diversification requirement under Greening to farmers that entered GLAS and committed to establish a catch crop on all of their tillage area.

In response to the exceptionally challenging harvest conditions of September 2016 I introduced a Weather Related Crop Loss Support measure to assist farmers who experienced significant yield losses in spring cereal crops. This measure provided support for verified crop losses. Particularly hard hit growers who experienced verified significantly higher crop losses were eligible for an additional payment per hectare, on the same area.

While the challenges facing the sector at this point in time are real, in Ireland we can grow cereals with the highest yields in the world and this is an advantage we must press home and also look to exploit other areas under our own control. My own Department also provides a high quality official crop seed certification scheme to the industry in addition to an extensive national crop variety evaluation programme. I would also encourage tillage growers to seek and implement the advice and research provided by Teagasc, supported by funding from my Department, in relation to efficient and sustainable production of crops. I remain fully committed to assisting all involved in the sector to optimise efficiency and sustainability.