Without the Irish tillage sector, feed mills would not have been able to keep up with the extra demand from the livestock sector this spring, according to James Brett of Brett Brothers in Kilkenny.

“If we didn’t have a stock of Irish grain at the moment, cattle and pigs would go hungry in this country,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

If there is a significant downturn in direct payments, I can see tillage farmers going out of business

“We can’t get in supplies of other raw materials, for example corn gluten, distillers grains, substitutes, which replace some of the cereal. That’s essentially because of shipping problems in the US; the Missisippi is flooded. A lot of these products come down from the Midwest to New Orleans by boat.”

At the moment he estimates demand is 35% higher than it normally would be at this time of year for feed. James says this will likely continue into May, but it has used up all the grain in stock in the country.

“Obviously, dairy farmers are feeding heavily right now, way beyond expectation. I think the security of cereals is at risk and with it the entire livestock sector.”

In the context of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, James says more needs to be done to emphasise the importance of the tillage sector.

“The cereal sector is very vulnerable; 85% of their income comes from direct payments,” he said. “The perception in the world is that there is a massive oversupply of grain. There is adequate stocks of maize. But if there is a significant downturn in direct payments, I can see tillage farmers going out of business. It will happen not just in Ireland but in other countries as well.”

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