The Food Vision 2030 strategy was pitched as the definitive roadmap for paving the way to higher farm incomes while boosting green credentials.

Three sub-groups spawned from the strategy covering dairy, beef/sheep and tillage, with these groups bringing forth all manner of schemes and initiatives on paper.

What emerged in concrete terms were three reports at a combined cost now disclosed by the Department of Agriculture as €16,485, including the sums paid to these groups’ chairs.

The Dealer thinks that costly and all as these annals turned out to be, the two covering dairy and beef/sheep could best remain ornaments on a shelf in Ag House, rather than proceed as plan with all their talk of cow culls.

As us enterprising farmers know, there’s no use in throwing good money after bad. But with election commitments aplenty for the tillage sector, that sector’s Food Vision group recommendation of a tillage support scheme looks like a shoo-in. Better not count the chickens yet though.