Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has indicated that the Budget 2026 allocation of €30m for once-off payments for tillage farmers will not be distributed in a similar manner to the way this year’s support funding was through the Tillage and Horticulture Support Scheme.
Instead, the intention for the 2026 tillage scheme will be targeted towards “those who need it the most”, the Minister told Dáil Éireann on Thursday.
“We absolutely need to design this scheme and make sure the €30m I have secured for Budget 2026 is targeted at farmers,” the Minister said.
“I want to do this differently from the last scheme. The last scheme provided a much-needed €100 for every hectare that had seed in the ground, with no capping or conditionality around it.
“We can be more targeted with this €30m, get it to those who need it the most and increase the value of it for those farmers as well.”
Long-term solution
The Minister’s comments came in response to a question from Malcolm Byrne TD, with Minister Heydon going on to refer to the €30m once-off measure secured for tillage in Budget 2026 as funding that “will buy us some time”.
“That is not the long-term solution, however. The long-term solution is the value-added piece,” he continued.
“The dairy industry has been very successful in identifying product such as whey proteins as the value-added piece.
“Unfortunately, our tillage sector is currently at world market prices and that is really hurting it.”
On the market options that could pose opportunities for tillage farmers to access price premiums beyond commodity markets, the Minister flagged “things we can do in respect of native grains in our feed” and “how we use our native grains” in the Irish whiskey geographical indicator.
The technical file on grains that can be used to distill Irish whiskey does require the use of native Irish grains.
However, the file is currently being updated and two submissions are under examination ahead of a public consultation process due to kick off in early 2026 for two months.
Crop insurance
Deputy Byrne initially raised the tillage sector by asking Minister Heydon if he would consider “introducing an insurance scheme or a guarantee of a basic income for the tillage sector”.
The Minister explained that risk management tools were optional under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and that the Department of Agriculture had examined the case around including crop insurance as a measure.
“However, its inclusion was not supported by stakeholders,” he said.
“My Department will consider potential risk management measures as part of the strategic planning for the next CAP strategic plan.”
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Budget 2026: tillage sector to get €30m in support
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has indicated that the Budget 2026 allocation of €30m for once-off payments for tillage farmers will not be distributed in a similar manner to the way this year’s support funding was through the Tillage and Horticulture Support Scheme.
Instead, the intention for the 2026 tillage scheme will be targeted towards “those who need it the most”, the Minister told Dáil Éireann on Thursday.
“We absolutely need to design this scheme and make sure the €30m I have secured for Budget 2026 is targeted at farmers,” the Minister said.
“I want to do this differently from the last scheme. The last scheme provided a much-needed €100 for every hectare that had seed in the ground, with no capping or conditionality around it.
“We can be more targeted with this €30m, get it to those who need it the most and increase the value of it for those farmers as well.”
Long-term solution
The Minister’s comments came in response to a question from Malcolm Byrne TD, with Minister Heydon going on to refer to the €30m once-off measure secured for tillage in Budget 2026 as funding that “will buy us some time”.
“That is not the long-term solution, however. The long-term solution is the value-added piece,” he continued.
“The dairy industry has been very successful in identifying product such as whey proteins as the value-added piece.
“Unfortunately, our tillage sector is currently at world market prices and that is really hurting it.”
On the market options that could pose opportunities for tillage farmers to access price premiums beyond commodity markets, the Minister flagged “things we can do in respect of native grains in our feed” and “how we use our native grains” in the Irish whiskey geographical indicator.
The technical file on grains that can be used to distill Irish whiskey does require the use of native Irish grains.
However, the file is currently being updated and two submissions are under examination ahead of a public consultation process due to kick off in early 2026 for two months.
Crop insurance
Deputy Byrne initially raised the tillage sector by asking Minister Heydon if he would consider “introducing an insurance scheme or a guarantee of a basic income for the tillage sector”.
The Minister explained that risk management tools were optional under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and that the Department of Agriculture had examined the case around including crop insurance as a measure.
“However, its inclusion was not supported by stakeholders,” he said.
“My Department will consider potential risk management measures as part of the strategic planning for the next CAP strategic plan.”
Read more
Budget 2026: tillage sector to get €30m in support
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