Tillage crisis fund lands at last

Farmers can expect announcement of the Tillage crisis fund within days.

Pat O'Toole

21 June 2017

A field of spring barley outsid Belgooly, Co. Cork. This crop should have been cut three weeks ago but weather conditions this year has delayed the harvesting of spring crops with thousands of acres still to be cut in south and south west Cork where crops are sprouting, heads going to ground, oats sheding grains and no spring straw is baled. Photo: Donal O' Leary

The crisis fund to assist those tillage farmers who suffered disastrous 2016 harvest is on the cusp of announcement. This was revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal last Friday on www.farmersjournal.ie.

The crisis fund to assist those tillage farmers who suffered disastrous 2016 harvest is on the cusp of announcement.

This was revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal last Friday on www.farmersjournal.ie.

The scheme has effectively been approved by the Department of Agriculture, and is currently with the Department of Public expenditure, where it is understood to be favourably received. As soon as scheme funding is sanctioned, the scheme will be announced.

Some will say the fund, which will have a maximum payment of €15,000 per farmer, does not go far enough, but it is the maximum amount of state aid that can be granted in a three-year period under EU rules.

There may also be grumbles about the accessibility of the scheme that emerges, but again, there are strict rules to be observed. Years of poor grain margins left farmers ill-equipped to cope with harvest losses. The idea of a form of crop insurance as part of the next CAP may gather legs.

This will bring to a close a long battle for some assistance for the hundreds of farmers who saw their crop reduced to salvage value. Yield was reduced to as little as 2.5t/ha, the grain saved was inevitably of high moisture and poor quality attracting price penalties. Straw was similarly poor in yield and quality.

The problems were concentrated around west and north Cork, and in counties along the western seaboard. Heavy rains flattened the crops by mid-September.

The prolonged dry weather to make them harvestable never came. The fact that many parts of the country experienced no serious harvest difficulties meant the campaign to help those who were facing financial ruin took time to gain momentum. Cork farmers made the early ground.

Last December, the Oireachtas committee heard from an IFA-led delegation of tillage farmers. Further pressure was heaped on the government when they lost a Dail vote on a Fianna Fail motion on the issue. All that pressure has now yielded this scheme.

Opinion: €15,000 tillage crisis fund won’t cover farmer losses

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