Tillage sector contributes €1.3bn to the Irish economy

The Irish tillage sector contributes €1.3bn to the Irish economy annually and supports 11,000 jobs. This equates to almost €4m of output and 32 full-time jobs per 1,000ha of tillage.

The findings come from a new report published this week which was commissioned by Tillage Industry Ireland.

The report is the first to detail a comprehensive economic evaluation of the sector and was composed by agricultural economist Professor Michael Wallace of UCD.

Commenting on the report, Professor Wallace said: “Tillage activities take place on approximately 10,000 Irish farms representing a total area of about 340,000ha, or 7.6% of the utilisable agricultural land area in Ireland.

“About half of these farms are specialist tillage units with farmers that are commercially focused and profitable, and with an average income performance which is second only to dairying.”

Cereal output

The national crop mix is heavily weighted towards barley, which accounted for 57% of tillage area in 2014-2018, while wheat and oats make up 19% and 7%, respectively.

The volume of cereals produced nationally averaged 2.3m tonnes each year during 2014-2018.

Despite the reduction in cereal area, production volumes have remained stable. This is largely due to yield improvements and a shift from spring-sown towards higher-output winter-sown cereals.

Some 65% of national tillage output was concentrated in the tillage heartlands of the mideast (Louth, Meath, Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow) and southeast (Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford).

Brewing and distilling

Strong export-led growth in beer and whiskey sales has increased the demand for brewing and distilling barley.

The report found that the brewing and distilling industries used around 17% (250,000t) of Irish barley, generating an average ex-farm output value of €48m per annum during 2014-2018.

Native sources accounted for nearly all barley used in Irish brewing and about two in every five tonnes of grain used in Irish distilling.

An estimated 115,000t of imported maize were used annually in Irish distilling during 2014-2018.

Reduction in area

The area under tillage crops nationally has declined by 15% (57,400ha) over the last decade and 42% since 1980. The area under crops in 2018 was 321,000ha.

The most substantial reductions in tillage acreage have been in the southeast and southwest regions, where the area under crops area fell by almost 35,000ha between 2008 and 2018. This accounts for 60% of the national decline in tillage in that period. This reduction coincides with the expansion of dairying activities.

Matt Dempsey, president of Tillage Industry Ireland, said at the launch of the report: “A vibrant Irish tillage sector is critical to many rural communities, particularly in the east and the south. As Irish cereals slide down the self-sufficiency scale for animal feeds and distilling, we are risking a backlash from consumers in international markets.”

“While there has been a decline in acreage, output has remained the same at approximately 2.3 million tonnes per annum. The Irish tillage sector is highly productive and produces amongst the highest yields anywhere in the world.”