Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon told the Food Vision Tillage Group on 10 December that he wants to strengthen the domestic feed supply chain to reduce reliance on imports.

Speaking at the first meeting of the group since February, the Minister said “there is more to do” including “developing premium markets for sustainably produced Irish grain” from animal feed, to grain for the drinks industry and plant proteins. He described Irish grain as being “among the most sustainable in the world”.

Addressing the meeting, the Minister acknowledged that the tillage sector faces challenges.

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He said these need to be addressed including “access to land and management of risk”, but he said there are also opportunities.

He said that Department officials have already engaged with grower representative groups in relation to the Tillage Support Scheme for 2026 which has a budget of €30m.

However, he said working with industry was critical for the long-term sustainability of the sector and welcomed the launch of AgNav which he said “will quantify the sustainability benefits of using Irish grain for consumers”.