The Food Vision tillage group is coming to the stage of report publication. The dairy and suckler vision groups have long submitted their reports.

The tillage report highlights a total of 25 various actions and recommendations – many of which are already in play.

Others require significant policy decision change at national level. Much now, of course, depends on what the Department and the minister want to take from the report.

Many of the actions are deemed “short term” so one would expect positive change quickly.

The key central recommendation of a new Tillage Expansion and Sustainability Scheme would bring together the need for long-term support while implementing environmentally desirable practice. That is positive.

However, there is also the danger that if you set the bar too high in terms of investment (exceptionally high-value machinery) you push tillage and cultivation beyond the means of many potentially new, young, tillage farmers.

The increasing risk of disruptive climatic conditions and price volatility has highlighted the need for some kind of income stabilisation scheme.

See also MTU’s Declan O’Connor’s letter on page 31. Given the hardship being experienced at the moment on all farms, it would be easy to convince many farmers of the need for some sort of a scheme this year.

Critically, it needs to be a margin insurance scheme as opposed to a price insurance scheme, as dairy farmers learned the hard way.

The draft report makes the comparison between tillage and livestock farmers.

The Department seems intent for all tillage and livestock farmers to exit stage left at the moment

The theory is if there was 60,000 more hectares of crops, then there would be less greenhouse gases than grazing cattle or sheep.

As we have said previously, the Department seems to set up these groups in silos, in isolation, to make farmers fight between each other. It takes the focus away from the policymakers if farmers are fighting between themselves.

Why make such a direct comparison when the majority of methane is produced from burning fossil fuels?

Shine the spotlight there instead. Why compare or substitute one plant protein for some of the most globally efficient, grass-based, milk and meat proteins available?

Surely the tillage group and the Department should focus on getting the basic building blocks of a financially and environmentally sustainable tillage production system in place and farmers will have options and vote with their feet.

At the moment, tillage farmers are exiting rather than entering.

The Department seems intent for all tillage and livestock farmers to exit stage left at the moment.