“The dairy sector in Ireland won’t survive if we don’t have a vibrant tillage sector,” according to head of agriculture at Bank of Ireland Eoin Lowry, who was speaking at the Dairygold annual tillage conference on Friday 12 January.

Lowry said that there are opportunities for the tillage sector.

He stated that there is a shortage of Irish grain and that there are great co-op structures in place which could help to develop farm-to-farm collaboration to grow animal feed.

Lowry said that tillage is a fundamental part of Irish agriculture to provide grain for all livestock rations and feed.

Irish-only feed

He highlighted the production of an Irish only animal feed from Dairygold - the Gold Farm beef range - commenting: “The leadership position you’ve taken on that should be replicated across the country.”

At the same conference, Dairygold set a minimum price for beans for the 2024 season.

The co-op will pay a minimum price of €250/t for beans delivered in harvest 2024 at a moisture content of 20%.

If markets move up, then Dairygold will increase this price for farmers who have locked into it. However, if markets go down, farmers will be paid the minimum price of €250/t.