Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 26 Apr 2018

Vol. 968 No. 2

Tillage Sector: Motion

Deputy Pat Deering

I move:

That Dáil Éireann shall consider the Report of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine entitled 'Future of the Tillage Sector in Ireland', copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 22nd November, 2017.

Last autumn, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine examined the issue of the tillage sector and its future. In undertaking this body of work, it wished to explore the full range of actions which could benefit the tillage sector. One of the main reasons the committee decided to examine this sector was because it had suffered several bad years with poor weather and low prices. While the focus of agriculture continues to be placed more on dairy and meat production, the tillage sector represents an area that could hold a high degree of untapped potential. For example, it may hold the key to emerging industries such as energy crops, as well as underpinning a vibrant and diverse artisan sector.

Launched last November, the report illustrates how the future of the tillage sector has its challenges, but within those challenges there are opportunities. While capturing some of these opportunities and benefits may not yet be feasible, others can be implemented now and in the short term. This report sets out several options that are comprehensive, wide-ranging, concise and realistic, all supporting a vibrant tillage sector with a strong future. The report itself covers a large range of sectors and issues, highlighting the importance of tillage to the economy. There are 35 recommendations in total, covering the tillage sector generally; increasing yields and profitability; energy generation and energy crops; supporting agriculture; and the input costs and support of the tillage sector. The report and these recommendations are intended to provide a basis for engagement between stakeholders in formulating a tillage sector plan, as well as a strong and solid future for the tillage sector. Most of the report's recommendations deal with increasing profitability and yields, along with energy generation and energy crops. They also touch on horticulture, input costs and supports such as insurance.

On the tillage sector generally, one key issue considered is the potential for insurance-type schemes, as operated in other countries and other member states of the European Union. As we have recently seen, the tillage sector operates in a high-risk environment. While the report does not set out the structure such a scheme could take, the magnitude of the risk necessitates an examination of the merits of such an approach in Ireland.

Among the key recommendations is the importance of glyphosate in the farming community. The committee has recommended that the Minister would vocally support the extension of the licence for glyphosate, which was subsequently extended by the European Commission. While this is to be welcomed, the continuing importance of such fertilisers cannot be overstated. The report notes there are some questions on the long-term reliance on specific chemical products and there is opposition to glyphosate in some member states. However, it continues to be essential in achieving acceptable yields.

One aspect of the tillage sector that could be viable is the domestic sugar beet sector. One key recommendation concerns an updated review of the potential to revive the sugar beet sector. Ironically, with the demise of the domestic sugar production sector, the difficulties in the tillage sector became more apparent. The support of small scale sugar beet production for the provision of molasses to Irish poitín producers was also recommended. The sourcing of Irish raw material by Irish distillers and brewers is to be welcomed. The report suggests an industry-wide conversation should be held on the value of Irish inputs in the context of Origin Green.

However, there are a number of recommendations that address particular points. The adoption of a fair trade system for Irish brewers was one possible avenue recommended by the committee. This would involve brewers paying a slightly higher price per tonne in exchange for the right to use a specified logo identifying them as being supportive of Irish farmers and aligning commercial breweries with a form of social enterprise. The use of long-term contracts is also a possible avenue that could be explored. This would provide security to farmers and allow them the flexibility to invest more in their farms. In addition, with the impending impact of Brexit, there is an opportunity for Irish alcoholic beverage producers to increasingly rely on Irish grain for production purposes. Such an approach could help enormously in stabilising the tillage sector in the face of the considerable difficulties it is currently facing.

The unique selling points of certain products must also be preserved. This is particularly the case for Irish whiskey, where the ageing requirement is essential to the recognised quality of Irish whiskey. The committee recommended retaining this as any change to the requirement could undermine this recognised quality.

While the committee did not issue any specific recommendations on the use of genetically modified organisms, GMOs, it is explored in some detail.

The case for and against GMOs is set out in the report, as well as whether such crops are commercially viable for development or whether they suit Irish conditions. The report highlights two key questions, namely, whether the Irish people are willing to accept GMO as safe on the basis of the body of research in existence and whether the use of GMO is viable economically or scientifically in Ireland.

Organic crops have some potential and the report discusses the benefits and challenges associated with such crops in some detail. The report's key recommendations are the development of a new organic action plan along with a commitment to produce new action plans on an ongoing basis. The report recommends that organic farming should be prudently encouraged and it is essential that this is done where it is viable. However, given the high risks involved, appropriate risk mitigation tools may also need to be explored.

Tillage has considerable potential to be a more central component of Irish agriculture and in achieving a stable future, the marketing of Irish produce is also important. The committee recommended that Bord Bia should work with exporters to promote Irish products that are labelled “Produce of Ireland”. Such labels can leverage the “Irishness” of these products and make a strong distinction between what is “produced in” Ireland and what is “produce of” Ireland.

Turning to energy crops, the report notes it will be essential that financial support is made available in order to avert the negative fiscal and environment consequences of reduced tillage farming in favour of higher emission alternatives. The joint committee has recommended that policies should, insofar as possible, support tillage farming and has highlighted the importance of a strong tillage sector in terms of food and feed security. In the event of a substantial number of tillage farmers opting to pursue livestock farming instead, this could have a profoundly detrimental effect on Ireland’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, the committee recommends the swift implementation of the recommendations of the tillage sector action plan of 2012 if, following a review, it is warranted. It calls for a major co-ordinated review of all support schemes; the consideration of supports for the conversion of large-building heating units; rewarding energy crops through agri-environmental schemes, for example, for biodiversity; and available support to help biomass boilers achieve lower emissions.

The potential benefits of energy crops are discussed in the report, and the committee is currently completing a report on climate change in the overall agrifood sector. A key recommendation is that a review be undertaken of its potential to fully identify its feasibility in Ireland and to inform policies to enhance its potential. This is not without risk, however, particularly in respect of the potential failure to meet the 2030 emissions targets. To establish the economic risks involved, the report recommends that a likely figure for the cost of such a failure be determined.

Another area discussed in the report is the potential of horticulture, which may offer an opportunity to dramatically increase agricultural output. The benefits and challenges of controlled environment horticulture in particular are discussed in some detail. The committee recommended that a detailed study be undertaken on the viability of expanding greenhouse growing in Ireland, and recommends that opportunities for controlled environment horticulture and vertical farming be explored.

The recommendations also include the crucial issue of input costs is also included in the recommendations. Reducing costs to farmers should be a consideration of net contributors to the EU and the primary issue identified in the report is the level of tariffs placed on fertiliser imports.

The report includes a welfare analysis, which highlights the potential benefit that a complete elimination of import duties on fertilisers would have for farmers. The committee recommends that the Government try to form a coalition of net contributors to the Common Agriculture Policy, CAP, to seek action by the European Commission on these tariffs. I will conclude by emphasising the importance of the CAP for the tillage sector, the sector which has probably suffered more than any other in the last CAP reform. The report highlights how direct payments accounted for 85% of farm income in the sector in 2016, which further underlines how important the CAP really is. We have an opportunity to maintain and enhance supports to the Irish tillage sector - and the EU tillage sector in general - in upcoming CAP negotiations. Protecting the direct payments to this sector, while exploring ways to enhance supports, is of paramount importance. This can be done by maintaining the CAP budget and using resources in a targeted and effective manner to provide the greatest benefit to all producers, including tillage farmers.

I am confident this report represents a comprehensive overview of the Irish tillage sector, the challenges it faces and the potential gains open to it. It outlines options and avenues to be explored and, if approached in the right way, I believe there is a bright future for tillage farming in Ireland. I hope this report meets the favour of the House and look forward to the debate.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Andrew Doyle)

I very much welcome this report and commend the committee members on their effort and contribution. This is a very timely debate on a very important sector and we should carefully consider this report. The overall thrust of the report is very much aligned with the tillage actions outlined in Food Wise 2025, the industry blueprint for the development of the whole agrifood sector. The tillage sector is an important and integral component of our agrifood industry, making a significant contribution to overall agricultural output. Crop production as a whole, including horticulture, contributes in the region of €700 million annually to agricultural output at farm gate prices. In particular, the cereals sector is a major contributor to livestock production through the provision of animal feed. Cereal growers also make a significant contribution to the food and drinks sectors in the form of malting barley, milling wheat and oats for the breakfast cereal industry.

I will begin my contribution by referring to the sector for which I have specific responsibility, namely, horticulture. The Irish horticulture industry makes a very significant contribution to the Irish gross agricultural output with a farm gate value of €432 million in 2017. In 2018, I have committed more than €5 million in funding through the commercial horticulture grant aid scheme. This funding will leverage a significant additional commercial investment by the sector. The investment in new technologies that creates more sustainable production systems is central to achieving targets set out under Food Wise 2025 and this nationally-funded scheme underscores the Department's commitment to achieving these targets.

I firmly believe the report's recommendations on diversification into horticulture are timely given the effect of weather events on the tillage sector in recent years. Diversification in agriculture and horticulture is something that can be used by primary producers to spread risk against losses in individual crops as a result of adverse weather or other challenges or both.

I will focus my comments on cereals to the potential of this sector to add value to agrifood output. As I noted earlier, approximately 80% or approximately 1.8 million tonnes of the annual cereals harvest are used for animal feedstuff. As a country, we need to import in the region of two thirds of our total feed materials requirement. This is in marked contrast to many of our EU counterparts, where the import requirement is much lower. Home-produced grain, either on its own or included in a native ration, provides a fully traceable feedstuff that supports the goals for the livestock sector contained in Food Wise 2025.

While the majority of cereal crop production has traditionally been based in the provision of feedstuffs to the livestock sector, end uses are changing. The demand for grain by the food and drinks industries such as malting, milling, breakfast cereal, distilling and as ingredients in the food sector is growing. Current demand for malting barley in Ireland is in the region of 200,000 tonnes, of which 180,000 tonnes is met by contracted malting barley growers. This represents 20% of the total spring barley area sown each year.

While not the answer to all of the challenges facing the tillage sector, the development of niche and specialist markets has potential to improve our competitiveness and sustainability.

The demand for Irish malting barley is growing in line with the sustained growth in demand for Irish whiskey. The marketing opportunity offered by maximising the amount of Irish grain in what are quintessentially Irish brands must be developed to the benefit of all involved and I fully support the initiatives that help to attain that aim. Within the malting barley sector, another specialist niche being promoted by the Department is the use of heritage Irish-bred barley varieties as a unique selling point for individual companies in the ever-expanding craft brewery and distillery industries. I am pleased to report that my Department has funded research on novel high-end lifestyle foods under our research programmes. I very much welcome that an important step at the end of these research projects is the engagement with the food industry with the view to commercialisation.

In view of these areas, I am most conscious of the importance of the maintenance of an efficient and viable tillage sector. I acknowledge that one of the major challenges facing the Irish tillage sector is the low price of grain. This was confirmed in the results of a poll carried out among those in attendance at the recent Teagasc national tillage conference. Unfortunately, cereal prices are highly sensitive to global supply and demand. Low prices have become a feature of world cereal production in recent years.

With regard to the sugar beet industry, my Department continues to monitor market trends. It must be noted, however, that the landscape has changed since Ireland exited sugar production in 2005 and EU sugar quotas were removed in 2017. Prices continue to decrease significantly as they align with world market prices. I am fully committed to the Programme for a Partnership Government statement that “State enterprise bodies will be asked to examine any substantial business plans related to rebuilding the industry with a view to considering appropriate State supports". I reiterate that it is a matter for interested parties to move forward and garner sufficient commercial and financial support to turn their plans into a viable reality.

The recent difficult winter and late spring affected all farming enterprises, and the tillage sector is no exception, with poor ground conditions resulting in delays to planting of spring crops. Teagasc estimates that the area of winter crops sown for the 2017-2018 season has decreased by 14.5% compared with the previous year. It is expected, however, that the recent general improvement in weather conditions will lead to an increase in spring sowing, especially in spring barley and forage maize. In 2017, €3 million was paid to Irish farmers under the EU protein aid scheme, primarily for the production of beans. Earlier this year an extension to the protein aid scheme for 2018 was announced with the same level of funding as 2017.

I come back to some of the recommendations of the report and how these fit with Food Wise 2025 and the supports provided by the Department. On recommendation 24, which specifically mentions forestry for fibre, the mid-term review of the forestry sector addressed that issue. It extended the payment period from ten to 15 years and increased the level of annual premiums to grant and premium category, GPC, 3 from €180 to €510. The establishment grant per hectare per year was increased from €2,165 to €3,650. Therefore, there is an incentive there. As was outlined, the renewable heat incentive, RHI, scheme is under active discussion.

The Department's independent crop variety evaluation programme is a service to the industry provided by the Department and it is based on comprehensive field trials conducted over a number of years in the main tillage regions. An example of the progress made in the crop variety evaluation programme is spring barley yields. Average spring barley yields of control varieties in the recommended list trials have increased by 27% over the past 21 years. The multi-year evaluation programme provides Irish tillage farmers with unbiased information on the varieties most suited for growing under Irish conditions. The trialling system evaluates various crops for yield, quality and agronomic traits, including disease resistance traits which are increasingly important given the continuing reduction in the approvals of plant protection products available for use.

The seed certification scheme is implemented directly by the Department and is invaluable to growers in giving them peace of mind that the seed they sow is of the highest quality and free from weed seeds. This service is provided to industry with only partial recovery of the total costs incurred in running the scheme. I also highlight the additional actions that we have taken to aid the tillage sector. The agriculture cashflow support loan scheme was introduced in January of last year and has been extended through provision of national funds to cover the tillage and horticulture sectors. The banks have advised that all of the €150 million available under this scheme has been committed and is in the process of being drawn down. There has been a very positive reaction by farmers, including tillage farmers, to the scheme, which has proved that significant demand exists for low-cost flexible finance. As announced in the budget last year, funding of €25 million has been secured for the Department to facilitate the development of new Brexit response loan schemes during 2018 for farmers, fishermen and food businesses in primary production.

With regard to the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, and the green, low-carbon, agri-environment scheme, GLAS, as a further support to tillage farmers, the tillage capital investment scheme under TAMS Il covers specific areas of investment, including minimum disturbance tillage equipment, sprayers, fertiliser spreaders and increasing grain storage and drying capacity. There has been a significant level of interest in investments under this measure, with 1,015 applications received so far and 779 approvals. More than €2.63 million has issued in respect of 239 payment claims. The measure remains open to further applications. In addition to TAMS, the GLAS tiered entry system prioritised tillage farmers who chose the minimum tillage or catch crop establishment environmental actions. To assist tillage farmers as well, in particular specialist malting barley growers, the Department decided to grant a special exemption from the basic payment scheme three crop rule to farmers who entered GLAS and committed to establish a catch crop on all of their tillage area.

In response to the exceptionally challenging harvest conditions of September 2016, we introduced a weather related crop loss support measure to assist farmers who experienced significant yield losses in cereal crops. This measure provided support for verified crop losses. Particularly hard-hit growers who experienced verified significantly higher crop losses were eligible for an additional payment per hectare on the same area.

With regard to risk management, all farmers understand that severe weather events come with the territory. I am strongly committed to supporting farmers in managing as much risk as possible. I sincerely believe there is scope to improve the functioning of the EU crisis reserve fund. We will also consider selecting risk management tools such as using mutual funds, insurance schemes and income stability tools to mitigate the effects of severe weather events. Given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, we must now give strong consideration to implementing these risk management measures in Ireland.

I will leave it at that. I know there are other contributors. The Minister, Deputy Creed, will conclude. Once again, I express my appreciation for the work which the committee put into this report. From my time on the committee I know the amount of effort that goes into such reports. It is quite obvious that all Members have engaged in and contributed positively to it.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

At the outset I thank Deputies Cahill, Martin Kenny, Penrose, Mattie McGrath and Wallace for allowing me to skip the queue since I have to be in Navan for 7 p.m. or shortly after. I thank the Deputies very much for that. I hope they will not report me if I get there for that time. I thank the Minister of State and the Chairman for their contributions. I also acknowledge the tremendous work which all members of the committee put into developing this report. I acknowledge especially the role played by the staff, including Kieran Tuohy, who is a researcher and did a lot of work on the report. I know that Kieran has moved on and been replaced by Ivan Farmer. I thank Kieran and the clerk to the committee, Josie Briody, who works alongside Alan and Hubert.

I appreciate the time that was given by the many people who came in not only to do written reports, but also to present. Great commitment was shown and I acknowledge the leadership of the Chairman who very much took this issue on and drove it through and deserves very strong credit for that.

Both the Chairman, Deputy Deering, and the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, outlined a number of the key recommendations, so I will not go into them as indepth as they did. However, I will touch on a few of the key points from a Fianna Fáil point of view. Working closely with Deputy Cahill and Senator Paul Daly, we felt this was an issue which merited very significant time and was a worthwhile pursuit because there is no doubt but that our grain industry is under tremendous pressure. The Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, in his contribution outlined how the area under winter cereal last year dropped by 14.5%. Some of this was weather-related but it is symptomatic of a trend whereby we see 2% to 3% of tillaged land being taken out of tillage each year. This is a very concerning issue when one considers that we have to import two thirds of our total grain needs. For a country with the agricultural potential of Ireland and where we pride ourselves on our tremendous agrifood exports and what we produce, it is very disappointing to see that, from the point of view of grain, two thirds of what we require must be imported. Of course, there is also the point that a significant amount of those imports comes from countries where genetically modified organisms, GMOs, are used. That presents issues as to how we bring our agrifood sector forward because I think consumers will increasingly look for produce that can be certified as entirely produced on this island with produce from the island. It is a concerning trend which we need to try to find ways to arrest because once a lot of ground moves out of tillage, to get that industry back up and running and back to that capacity may prove nigh impossible. Therefore, where possible, we need to try to take whatever measures we can to address this.

There has not been much mention yet of the issue of the Common Agricultural Policy, the ongoing review and the funding that will be in place from 2020 to 2027. This will be significant to all agrifood sectors but it will be particularly important to the tillage sector. We need to see the CAP supports done in a way that recognises that the tillage sector needs to be supported and the level of hectarage under tillage continues. This is challenging, and we see it particularly with the growth in the dairy sector, whereby profitability in the dairy sector has been higher in recent years than in other sectors. This is putting increasing pressure on the area of land under tillage. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Creed, and the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, are well aware of this. We had the former Minister, Mr. Hogan, before the committee today. As for how Deputies Creed and Doyle approach and engage with Mr. Hogan and the Commission in the coming period, it is important to keep this issue at the forefront of their minds.

The report also touches on the need to examine properly the potential for energy crops, and I ask that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister and the Minister of State take on board from their end this recommendation, fully explore it and examine its potential. I know the sugar beet sector was covered in the tillage sector report of 2012. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that State supports be considered as appropriate in respect of proposals put forward. I know this is being examined and scoped at present by some interested parties. We should work to see where the potential and capacity is to reignite that and whether it stacks up.

Another key point, which runs across all our agricultural sectors, is the need to ensure a fair price for the product. When it comes down to brass tacks, the biggest problem with the tillage sector is that in recent years the price per tonne and the price that farmers get for their land has meant that incomes have been dropping and many are questioning how viable it is to continue in tillage. This is a very challenging issue to grapple with. Cereal prices operate in a world market and are very much exposed to what happens in other parts of the world at any one time in a given year. However, where we can, particularly at European level, improve the position of the primary producer, it is important we explore that further. There is no easy way to do so but it is something we must grapple with and try to improve. An example given in our report is the brewing industry. Regarding the prices paid to distillers and brewers, a one cent increase in the price of a pint would lead to a 20% increase in the price the farmer gets for his grain. Therefore, a very small increase in the price the end consumer pays would have a very significant impact on the primary producer and the farmer in this instance.

I also wish to touch on the issue of low-income loans. Deputy Cahill raised this during Question Time today and the importance of these loans to the farming sector, particularly the tillage sector. We see right across the country currently that farmers are under massive pressure because of how late this season has been. A survey that the Irish Grain Growers sent to me earlier today indicates that, according to those who responded to the survey, 50% of farmers have less than half of their crops sown at this stage. The respondents to their survey also indicated that 30% of farmers have reduced their areas of land under tillage. This is a reflection of the pressure they are under. A low-interest loan scheme needs to be opened up soon, and there is an allocation for it in the budget. However, it is important that it is expedited by the Government to try to relieve some of the financial pressure the tillage sector is under.

Our report also refers to the need to look at the price paid for fertiliser and the tariffs that are applied. I know the IFA has pushed this and raised it in Europe and with the Government. This could be addressed and could help address the costs that tillage farmers must deal with.

It is also important that the Government shows itself to be responsive to the pressures under which farmers find themselves. The Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, did refer to the fund which was introduced to try to assist some of those farmers who suffered from a very bad harvest in 2016. However, in that instance we must recognise that the Government was very slow to recognise the plight of those farmers and to come in and support them. It took a Private Members' motion on the floor of the Dáil to get movement on it. The Government must learn from this and work closely with the sector to recognise the pressures the tillage sector experiences. The Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, referred in his comments to the need for additional volatility tools, insurance schemes and funds within the CAP programme, I believe, to be able to respond to adverse weather conditions. That is important in the tillage sector, as it is in other sectors. It is certainly a suite of policy tools that we must focus on and further develop, given our experience in recent years.

At that, I will sign off. I again thank everyone who contributed to the report and my colleagues for their generosity in letting me commence the Opposition contribution.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I too am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this report. I thank the Chairman, all the members who compiled the report and the secretariat, as Deputy McConalogue and others have. Agriculture is the most important industry in this country. I know the Minister himself is a cereal grower so he has an understanding of these issues.

I note from reading the report's many recommendations that the following proposals have been outlined. I will make a brief comment on some of the recommendations on the tillage sector. Recommendation uimhir a haon states:

The Committee recommends that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine analyse the potential for agricultural insurance schemes as operated in other countries. The Committee also recommends that the result of this analysis be forwarded to the Committee along with the Department’s views on it in the context of a new Common Agricultural Policy.

The committee also recommends that consideration be given to policies which encourage the use of as much suitable land as possible for tillage. I am worried about this. I have no corn myself, as I have only a small bit of hill land, but I was brought up on a very mixed farm and I worked as an agricultural contractor. I did everything one could think of with corn. I remember bagging corn as a buachaill óg on the bagger combine and it was hard work. I remember the 20 stone bags which I could not lift. Deputy Durkan and others will remember them also. Men with the same physique as me could lift them and throw them up onto a trailer. I could not believe it. They could carry them up the stairs to a crusher in a mill. Those days are gone. I remember in 1977 drawing corn and barley and people were getting £100 a tonne with 19% or 20% moisture. It was nice dry corn, which was well ripened. As a farmer said to me recently, at that time we could buy a tank of diesel for a tonne of corn, and he was speaking about a 300 gallon tank. Now we would not fill a tractor for the price of the corn.

We had the set-aside programme for a long time, which I thought was a blight on the landscape with so many people starving. There were costs associated with it and there were the costs of conacre. It has settled a bit, but the prices being paid never cease to amaze me because of the inclement weather and the poor climate. This is a very late spring. Winter corn is starting to recover but we got some corn in on only a couple of days this week. We grow potatoes as well and none of them is in yet. My point is the costs are huge and the cost of the commodity is not keeping anywhere near pace. I do not know how people survive. There is the cost of a combine harvester and the cost of the tractor and plough, the tiller, the one pass system and sprays. Back in 1976 after setting the corn we would not see it again apart from looking over the ditch to see whether it was ripe or getting a bit into our fists to rub the grain to see whether it was ripe. Now it is sprayed so many times and washed and there is nitrogen and God knows what. The costs are savage and we are not keeping pace with them. It is in crisis because people are flocking away from it because the costs are too high and the return is not there.

The banks are not good at supporting farmers anyway, but they are reluctant to give people a loan to till, set and sow. They always used to wait until September or early October for the cheques but this is not happening. Farmers are not getting those loans. The country needs to recognise that agriculture is a vital industry.

We had a lot of beet but we had the demise of the beet industry. It was done by my party at the time and it was the biggest scandal in agriculture. It was the then Minister, Mary Coughlan. It was a crying shame that the industry was closed down. South Tipperary was a hub of beet growers. The whole season started when people would meet, often in a public house or some venue, when an agent would come along and people got their acreage. Then they started ploughing, tilling and sowing. At that time we had to till it and I often tilled it and hoed it. As a young fellow I pretended to do this as I ran up and down the drills. Then we came to the harvesting, loading it into trailers and bringing it to the railway station in Cahir and then to Thurles. There was a whole pulp industry and lime industry. There were seasonal jobs in Thurles. It was huge. There was also the whole area of the tops. It was full year round employment. As well as work for farmers, nine or ten young fellows would be thinning beet. Of course, they cannot do it now because NERA and other agencies would be out saying we cannot have young fellows under 16 thinning beet. We have lost that whole understanding of how food is produced and where food is derived from. It is not their fault, but some children now think money comes out of a hole in the wall, that milk comes from a factory and that sugar comes from wherever. That is the way it is gone. It was wonderful training.

The Minister is laughing - tá sé ag gáire - but I remember an old man, Jimmy McGrath, who used to thin the beet with us. He was a big heavy man at the time. We passed him out on the drills because we were young and light, and he used to be savage because he prided himself that no one could beat him at anything. We were up and down the drills and the older men were hoeing. There was all the work in that, and there were also the hauliers and people selling the lime. God be good to Liam Devaney, who was a great Tipperary hurler. He had more dinners in our house than anyone else and he was welcome. He always arrived at that time of the day. It was a whole way of life. Now the farming has gone and we see it today in the fodder crisis.

I am frightened for young dairy men. I salute their courage but I do not think the banks are saluting them. They have made investments in cows and big herds. The small farmers are gone. Every farmer at that time had a couple of acres of beet and a mixed farm. We had everything from pigs to cows to sheep to beet, potatoes, mangels, turnips, wheat, a bit of oats and everything else including barley. It has changed now. There is talk of diversification but we are becoming industrial farmers now and we have a huge loss of employment and a loss of those valuable resources.

I know the committee looked at this, and the CAP is up for review and God knows what, but in my experience it is unviable now to grow and harvest corn. This late spring will not help. I do not want to be a prophet of doom because if corn gets in and gets the right conditions it will come and we will have a good harvest. Last year, we saw 1 million big round bales of straw fewer than we did the year before. That gives us an indication. It was not because the crop was so low and so small, it was because people are going away from growing cereals.

We have another problem in Tipperary and in the Golden Vale because a conglomerate, namely, Coolmore, is buying every bit of land. If someone had an A4-sized piece of land it would almost buy it. It is pricing everyone else out of the market. The people there always told us they wanted land to breed excellent horses, and I salute their prowess and the many famous horses and the O'Brien family in south Tipperary, but they also have 3000, 4,000 or 5,000 acres of corn. They cannot say that is to feed the horses because very little of it is oats and horses do not eat wheat, as far as I know, especially thoroughbreds. We need to look at this.

We need the land commission back or something like it. Rural villages and towns are lonesome places because we do not have people on the land. We had the Bill from the Minister, Deputy Ross, yesterday which will mean drivers will have to keep a metre away from bikes. Holy God, imagine going down a narrow road with a combine taking up the whole road and then keeping a metre away from a bike. We just have to get some bit of common sense back in here and allow people to live on the land and have the land productive. I know we will never go back to the day of what I am speaking about and is mór an trua é sin. We need to look where we are going. We need to have control over the acquisition of thousands of acres by a horsing conglomerate. This is also happening in Wicklow and other places. The small man who wants to keep going or the young farmer who has all his green certificates and wants to be able to expand a little to be viable gets no look in. This is reprehensible. We need a land commission or something like it. Although this report has taken a pretty exhaustive look, we also need to look at the more deeply rooted problems because agriculture is in crisis.

I have not even mentioned the fodder crisis but part of it was because there was no straw. There were 1 million fewer round bales of straw last September then the year before. That tells its own story. People are going away from it because it is not viable. I know they have tried maize and other crops. The big issue with sugar beet was the loss of a rotation crop. It was a fabulous rotation crop. Efforts have been made by Deputy Deering and others, and I support them, to try to encourage the industry back again but it will be an uphill struggle. It was a most valuable industry to lose and shame on the Government at the time that destroyed it. Look at what it did to the town of Thurles. It is a pity Deputy Cahill is not here. It is falling down around the place. I drew beet in there and cut across to Littleton with a tractor and trailer and drew briquettes home. The briquette factory closed only three weeks ago. What is going on in rural Ireland? We can talk all we like here and have reports and investigations, but it is like Cromwell and to hell or to Connacht. Where will they send us? Agriculture plays such a vital part, and any young fellow who got training, whether villagers or farmers' sons, were well trained in milking cows with a stool and bucket, tilling beet, loading mangels or beet, hunting sheep, dipping sheep-----

Deputy Michael Creed

Does Deputy McGrath lament the loss of all that?

Deputy Mattie McGrath

-----and squeezing the cattle.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Bernard J. Durkan)

Thank you Deputy, there is no squeezing in here.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I lament the valuable experience that young people are denied today. I would like more interaction from our schools out on the farms to see how they work.

Deputy Mick Wallace

I apologise because I have not read the report and I did not hear the contributions of the Chairman or the Minister. I was caught at something else.

People probably find me a strange visitor to the agricultural sector, especially the Minister. I usually come from an environmental perspective, but for the record, I grew sugar beet myself.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

Good man.

Deputy Mick Wallace

I used to take a bit of land and-----

Deputy Mattie McGrath

Did you till it?

Deputy Mick Wallace

I did. I had to do everything with it. I picked up 20 tonnes of loose beet off the field by hand after the machine was done, which took me a week. I was born on a 36 acre farm. Most small farms tend to be a mixture of different aspects of farming involving cereals and different animals, be they pigs, cattle or sheep. Small farmers tended to have a bit of everything and there was something very good about it.

The reason I decided to contribute was because I have been listening to some small farmers in Wexford. The fodder crisis was the stimulus for it. Small farmers contacted me to say they wondered why in God's name we do not do anything for the small farmer. I am of the opinion that we take much better care of the big farmer than we do of the small one. The small farmer needs the Government's help more. I was away at the time but it was pointed out to me that on the radio, the Minister had called on the banks to be more open to giving farmers short-term loans to help them with the crisis and said that the agricultural sector was one of the most bankable in Ireland. The farmers told me that they tried but they could not get it. We all know that if the sun was shining, the banks would give a person an umbrella, but if it started raining, they would want it back. There is no doubt that the less money a person needs, the easier it is to get it from a bank, but the more money he or she needs, the more difficult it is to get it. That is not just in farming. It is in all areas.

The small farmers who were contacting me about the fodder crisis were very frustrated. They feel abandoned. We know there has been great help for certain areas of agriculture. We have probably made millionaires out of the big dairy farmers. We gave away our fish on the scent of it. I would not expect the Minister to agree with me on anything anyway. The small farming sector is worth protecting.

Deputy Michael Creed

On a point of information, our fishing industry is multiples of the size it was when we joined the EU.

Deputy Mick Wallace

The Minister told me that our emissions are grand and everything is rosy whereas the EU has told us that we are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to methane emissions. The EU would say that the Irish are not doing enough to address climate change challenges.

Deputy Michael Creed

We have more to do.

Deputy Mick Wallace

The Minister is starting to sound like Bertie Ahern. That is what he said in 2007. We have argued in here about the increase in the dairy herd. I do not think it is a good idea. Aside from the climate change aspect of it, we are making more problems for ourselves. We cannot have milk without calves, so we are increasing the beef herd, which adds to our climate challenges. On top of that, where is the extra feed coming from? The number of animals in the country has increased a lot so the amount of feed would need to increase a lot. Aside from how we deal with the challenges of climate change, we must accept that sometimes winters are wetter at certain parts of the season than they used to be and weather is becoming more unpredictable. It is part of the reason the banks might not be as keen to give money to small farmers anymore. Maybe the banks find that the industry is less predictable and more precarious.

A lot of money goes to the farming sector and it is by far our best indigenous industry. It is the only real indigenous industry of any size worth talking about in this country. I wish the Government would direct more money towards those who need it most, namely, small farmers. I do not know how we could do that. I am sure the Government has talked about it more than I have. Unless we change tack, I honestly believe the small farming sector is under serious threat and that would be a terrible shame for this green island because it has so much to offer the country in so many different ways.

I was going to talk about a lot of different things, many of them around climate change. I just want to register the worry of small farmers whom I have met. They are genuinely worried about whether they have a future in the game they are trying to make work for them and rear young families on. One of them pointed out to me that some of the small farmers he knew were so challenged, he was worried about their mental health. We all know the link between financial pressures and mental health difficulties. The number of small builders who took their own lives during the recession is well known, as is the number of people who took their own lives because of difficulties with banks. I appeal to the Department to be more conscious of the difficult place small farming is in.

Deputy Willie Penrose

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this report. I compliment Deputy Deering, who is an excellent Chairman, as was his predecessor. The moral or lesson is that one can become a Minister of State, just like Deputy Doyle, who was previous Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and did an excellent job.

When I was growing up in Westmeath, some farmers spoke slightly resentfully of "the time of the tillage", by which they meant the years of the Second World War when farmers were compelled to increase their production of cereals and root crops which could not be imported due to the war. As much of the land in Westmeath is fairly heavy land and not suitable for tillage, it took a big effort and a lot of hard work, and that was why a bit of resentment was understandable. Up to the 1970s, nonetheless, a large proportion of farmers in Westmeath grew some cereals and root crops.

The price supports for beef and milk provided under the CAP resulted in a sharp decline in Irish tillage farming as very little CAP support was provided for tillage. Only 9% of arable land is now devoted to tillage and the acreage has declined by 14% in the past five years. There are now only 3,000 specialised tillage farmers but they are highly productive, as shown by the fact that Irish crop yields are among the highest in the world. A large part of the decline in tillage is due to the abandonment of sugar beet production because of the EU allowing greater tariff-free imports of cane sugar. One of the recommendations focuses on the revival of the sugar beet industry. I think all the stakeholders who have expressed an interest should get together and redouble their efforts. The Minister should help out in a practical way to secure this worthwhile objective. It was a sad and poor day for Ireland when it was closed in 2005. I remember it went through here nice and coolly, but even a midlander like myself knew the importance of the sugar industry.

The reduction in tillage output has led to increased dependence on imports with only 40% of Ireland's cereal consumption being domestically produced.

Many of the cereals imported into this country are genetically modified. While Ireland does not grow genetically modified crops, I am concerned that if imported cereals are fed to livestock, it will be difficult to sustain the clean and green image of Irish food production. That is why we need to increase tillage production. I know it is a very big threat. We are very proud to have a very clean and good industry. We can secure the industry completely if we ensure that we increase production.

The fact that Irish cereal production is free of genetically modified organisms, GMOs, offers an opportunity for the tillage sector to produce more premium products for food production rather than for animal feed which accounts for most cereal production at present. The establishment of several new whiskey distilleries and numerous craft breweries, including some in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, also offer opportunities for increased production of high-quality cereals. There may be a case for a quality-assurance premium for Irish GMO-free grain which could establish for such grain incentives similar to those for the quality-assured Irish beef of which we are so proud. While Irish beef and dairy production are major contributors to Ireland’s CO2 emissions, tillage crops sequester carbon in the soil as they grow. As the EU moves towards more carbon-friendly farming, greater tillage output will help Ireland achieve its carbon reduction targets.

The potential for biofuels is not being realised and the acreage under such crops has stagnated. There are opportunities not only for biomass crops as a source of energy but also for biopolymers, biochemicals and insulation materials. Biofuel crops can be grown in areas not suitable for cereals and are less weather dependent than the latter. However, we have some history in this regard and people have not forgotten the lessons of the past decade, when many farmers got burnt.

The potential for organic crops in Ireland is not being developed. I am aware that organic production is very hard work and that the price premium for organic products is often not enough to make production worthwhile.

Over the past 20 years the arrival of discount supermarkets has put relentless downward pressure on the price paid to farmers for vegetables. Not only did the big supermarkets coming in from abroad eliminate the little local shop, they also did terrible damage in the context of the prices farmers get. They did that with vegetables. Earlier, Commissioner Hogan said something to which I subscribe, namely, that the abolition of the groceries order was the biggest mistake the country ever made and we are paying a significant price. Fair play to the Commissioner, who sent out a clear signal to whatever Government might be around that he should be reappointed to the position because at least he speaks the truth to power.

While low food prices are obviously good for consumers - at least they think they are good - particularly those on low incomes, good quality food cannot be produced cheaply. Darina Allen has said that when she advocates for good quality food, she is dismissed as elitist and told that people cannot afford quality food. However, a recent survey found that the average Irish family spends one fifth of its food budget on so-called treats that are full of sugar and fat and empty of nutrition. Many people seem willing to spend money on anything other than good-quality food. An effective campaign of education of consumers is needed to inform people of the importance of domestically-produced wholefoods. Families with children in Ireland spend on average €1,037 per annum on crisps, chocolates and sweets and only €346 on vegetables. As a result of this consumption pattern, there has been an alarming increase in childhood obesity - I suppose I am a good example of that - and all the attendant health risks that go with it.

The snow in late February and early March also highlighted a vital reason for Ireland to produce more of the food it consumes. Many people think that because Ireland is a large food producer, we could survive any crisis in which food supplies were disrupted. We know that 90% of our beef is exported. The supply chain for many foods is now long, complex and easily disrupted. There is a strong case to be made for Ireland to become more self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs and in order to achieve this, tillage farmers need greater support. While the old CAP led to overproduction and left us with butter mountains and wine lakes, the withdrawal of price support for wheat has led to a huge drop in stocks of wheat. This means that there is little wheat available when shortages emerge due to adverse weather conditions. Such weather conditions will be more frequent in the future.

Transport is the major contributor to CO2 emissions and consumers are becoming more conscious of food miles. Supermarkets offer green beans from Guatemala, asparagus from Peru and strawberries from Egypt. While I am not suggesting that Irish consumers be confined to carrots and turnips during the winter, the current global system of food production and transport is not sustainable. A return to sourcing more of our food supplies locally is vital if we are to slow down global warming. We could have a treble hit here.

Irish tillage has a promising future if it can respond to the demand for more sustainable and healthy food products but tillage farmers need greater support from the Government and the EU. In the forthcoming reform of the CAP, tillage crops should be given more consideration and more resources need to be put into supporting sustainable agriculture.

I mentioned the Second World War. Irish agriculture prospered during that period because we were able to meet much of the increased demand for food in the UK. Brexit poses a challenge for all Irish food exporters but Irish tillage producers will require support to maintain their share of the UK market and to enter new markets.

The prediction is that, by 2025, there will only be 1,500 full-time tillage farmers who will produce 60% of the output, with 11,000 people involved in tillage and energy production at some level. As I discussed with Deputy Martin Kenny, it is not profitable to produce tillage crops and tillage farmers are competing with a pretty profitable dairy industry. While I hate to use the term, it is a perfect storm.

It is not often that I praise the IFA; I rightly take issue with it. I would be one of the few Deputies to have the courage to do that. I know many farmers support what I say and not what the IFA says. However, I have great admiration and time for Liam Dunne of the IFA grain committee. He is based in the Acting Chairman's county. He knows his onions. He has been arguing about ways of reducing input costs, including initiatives relating to VAT. Whenever he speaks, I listen with care because I know he puts considerable work into it. Nevertheless it is a huge challenge to get people into tillage. Unless it becomes profitable we will be shooting against the wind. Given issues such as input costs and VAT, we have to discriminate in favour of tillage. We need more domestically produced food. I think we can do that profitably and make tillage attractive again. It was always attractive.

We need 6 million tonnes of animal feed and, as the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, said, we are producing approximately 2 million tonnes per annum. The balance is imported. We have climate issues and rotation issues. The real issue is that there is inadequate financial return for those who sow tillage crops, which says it all.

In 2016, the average income on special tillage farms was approximately €30,800, with direct payments making up €26,000. Less than €5,000 was coming from the market. That was for enterprises other than cereals. Only a quarter of tillage farmers earn in excess of €50,000. Machinery is the biggest cost incurred by tillage farmers, amounting to approximately 40% of the total cost of growing crops in Ireland according to Teagasc specialists. Farm and land fragmentation plays a significant role in that.

Protein crops and others that the Minister of State mentioned have potential. However, in order to get back into grain and tillage properly we will need to ensure it is profitable and reward those who take risk in the tillage area.

Deputy Martin Kenny

I compliment the Chairman and committee members on the work done on the report. I also compliment the staff and the various organisations that sent in witnesses who gave us their knowledge and expertise on the issue. I also acknowledge the others who made submissions on it.

As has been said, the tillage sector has been under pressure. The Teagasc report for the period 2007 to 2016 shows a reduction in the tillage crops grown in nearly every county. Deputy Penrose will be interested that the figures for Meath and Westmeath increased slightly. They are not all lazy in that part of the country. Despite everything, they are pushing it forward.

The reality is that it is about price. Other speakers referred to the animal feed element. The feedstuffs necessary to keep the dairy and beef sectors going must come from somewhere. Even if we were growing all the grain in Ireland, the reality is that the imports from abroad are considerably cheaper. Given those prices, Irish farmers will not grow that animal feed product. However, the position relating to foodstuffs is completely different.

There is a huge opportunity to produce cereal crops for food and for the whisky and beer sector. We have a distillery in Drumshanbo in County Leitrim which produces gin, whiskey and vodka. Pat Rigney, who runs an excellent business there, tells me that he tries to get as much grain as he can from Ireland, but cannot always do that.

The report shows that a farmer gets 1% of the price of a pint. It costs €7 in the city centre of Dublin but the farmer's share is very small. It costs less than €5 where I come from but farmers face the same reality. A consumer would expect a farmer to get a lot more but it is the same in every sector. Earlier today the EU Commissioner, Mr. Phil Hogan, spoke of the pricing system and the way a product gets to market. Everyone between the primary producer and the consumer seems to be making a lot but the two at the ends are suffering, with the consumer paying a high price and the farmer getting a low price. I acknowledge that work is being done to change this.

The Irish whiskey sector has a huge opportunity across the world. We have made huge advances in Mexico and other countries. The French are the largest consumers of whiskey and have whiskey before and after every meal. If we got just 1% of the Scotch on the French market it would add between 30% to 40% to production in Ireland. I am not an advocate for alcohol as it has many dangers but there is an opportunity for a product that has a story to it. I spoke to somebody who provides food to luxury hotels in the Far East, who told me they cannot get enough of food that has a story, whether it is cheese, meat or anything else. They want to put on a menu that a piece of lamb came from such a place in Ireland and was raised on a mountain with pure feed. We produce a lot of food for export in Ireland but we are tiny in proportion to the food consumed throughout the world. We need to put ourselves in a place where we get a premium price for our product, which means we have to do it not just better than everywhere else, but purer than everywhere else.

An opportunity exists for the tillage sector, which is a vital part of our beef and dairy sectors, as well as beer and whiskey. What is missing is a bit of joined-up thinking. The industry has to come on board but the people who produce the final product have to recognise that the farmers need to be knitted into the picture, which means they must be given not just a fair price but an excellent price to enable them to expand. In Leitrim and north Roscommon, they used to say that the money that bought land was never made on land. People went away, worked hard and then came home and bought a farm, almost when they were due to retire. We should have an agricultural industry which does not just provide a living for people. It should sustain the next generation and there is now an opportunity to do that, with the tillage sector central to this. Deputy Penrose mentioned a quality assurance scheme and this needs to be looked at. If we put Origin Green on a bottle of whiskey or anything we produce it should mean all the ingredients are produced in Ireland. It should also mean that the farmer who contributes to those ingredients gets an excellent price and is well looked after.

The report is an excellent document and goes into many of these issues. It sets out a roadmap for the way forward but we need to be even more imaginative. The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Andrew Doyle, spoke of the horticulture sector. I grew mushrooms for many years in the mid-1980s, when small farmers were encouraged to have an alternative farm enterprise, with the assistance of grant aid and other things. It kept farms going but, with economies of scale, in order for people to make money they had to expand from one mushroom field to two and then, after a few years, to ten, 15 or 20 and not everyone could do that. A few big players got very big and the rest disappeared. Where there is pressure to make money in this scenario, Government has to become a leveller by supporting the small people to stay small. I heard what Deputy Mattie McGrath had to say and, while it is amusing to think of the hard work there was on a farm, in the shape of thinning and other things, we do not want to go back to those days. Nevertheless, mass efficiency will eventually mean we have very few people working and a lot of stuff produced but without the quality. We need to have balance and to rethink where we are going.

There is a piece in the back of the report on alternative and new ideas for the horticulture sector, involving technology and other things and we need to look at opportunities such as these. The important thing is that the sector needs to stay small scale, though I do not mean micro level. It needs to be manageable and able to sustain a family farm. If we do that with horticulture there will be opportunities for us.

This report is an excellent document but it will have to be bought into by several industries, particularly the food and drink industries, as well as the Minister and Government who have a big role to play. To have a vibrant tillage industry, the people who grow the grains have to know they will get a very good price consistently into the future. There are great opportunities if everyone works together because when communities come together, they can do something different. Everyone in the world recognises that Ireland is a country that produces clean and high-quality food and drink and we need to use that to our advantage. We must ensure that those in a strong position, such as those in the processing industry, do not abuse their strength. The job of Government is to ensure that does not happen. I commend the report and thank the committee and everyone who put so much work into it.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed)

It has been fascinating to listen to the debate and I acknowledge the work done by the committee, its individual members, the secretariat and the Chairman in bringing forward a report. It is timely as we are at a critical stage in negotiating the shape of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020. The viability of the tillage sector is contingent on the appropriate policy framework being delivered and that needs to happen to ensure this critical industry can survive.

I take note of all of the contributions that have been made on the level of acreage under the plough and the fact that it has dropped. However, one of the most significant structural challenges the industry faces is that it is substantially dependent on rented land. Deputy Martin Kenny and I had a conversation earlier today about the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. I understand his point which, in principle, I support, about delivering more supports to smaller farmers, but here is the rub. In this sector which is particularly challenged they have, on average, among the highest payments made under the single farm payment system. The payments are an historical legacy or entitlement and in order to retain them, farmers are obliged year in, year out to pay extraordinary levels for rented land. It is a vicious circle and we need to find a rational way out of it. They are now competing with farmers on the dairy side and those involved in both sectors are paying excessive amounts. We hear extraordinary figures quoted for an acre of rented land for tillage or dairy production, which brings into question the issue of sustainability. We use that word very often in the context of environmental policy but financial sustainability also applies. The farmers in question receive among the highest payments, but a lot of it - I use the term advisedly - is frittered away. Because of the paradigm in which they are stuck, they have to take land in order to retain the entitlement. Deputy Martin Kenny made a point earlier today at Question Time about capping payments. We need to deliver a fairer model and provide for more equity in the allocation of CAP funds without having unintended consequences, which was the point I made.

Deputy Martin Kenny

Exactly.

Deputy Michael Creed

There could be some unintended consequences for a sector that requires high payments to sustain a model which, let alone in the long term, is probably currently financially unsustainable in terms of its dependence on rented land. There is a real challenge in that regard. I am not sure if that is something the committee has specifically got its head around in respect of a model for the tillage industry in the context of a reformed CAP. I suspect nobody from Deputy Martin Kenny's neck of the woods would thank him much for salvaging the tillage men who might retain a payment of in excess of or sometimes multiples of the proposed cap. I do not think that reflects the income they make from their enterprise. There is the rub. We need to be careful of unintended consequences in what we do. Tillage is a very interesting sector to expose it and to see how a movement in one direction can have catastrophic consequences for others. Therefore, we need to be careful.

The point has been made about the country's dependence on imported grains for animal feed and protein, in particular. If my recollection of figures is correct, we are only about 5% self-sufficient in protein crops. That is an extraordinary exposure. The European Union as a whole is equally dependent on imported proteins. I saw somewhere recently that we imported the equivalent of the size of the Iberian Peninsula in terms of the ground required to grow the volume imported. That is a huge deficit that the European Commission now acknowledges. In fairness to the Commissioner who was before the committee earlier, it has committed to bringing forward a protein plan for the European Union. I hope it will offer some support to the tillage sector here.

We have lamented the demise of the sugar industry, rightly so. It happened in a context that was extremely regrettable, but that is water under the bridge. In fact, we are not hidebound by the constraints introduced when the industry was closed down. The Government has always indicated - the programme for Government specifically references it - that it is open to a business case that might see an opportunity to re-establish a sugar industry here. It would receive the supports any prospective business would. I acknowledge its role in terms of animal feed and as a break crop for the tillage sector.

The EU protein plan which I think is anticipated by 2019 could form a very interesting part of a new architecture for the tillage sector and in addressing our and the European Union's deficit in production. We are really significant in that space. I take Deputy Willie Penrose's point about our exposure to imported grains, GM crops, etc. On specific immediate issues of interest to the tillage sector, there is the three crop rule. The adverse weather in recent weeks has affected crops that would and should have been sold to meet the greening obligations under the CAP. The Commissioner has been very proactive in indicating that they will not apply for the current tillage year, which is welcome.

It is true to say one of the shining lights on the horizon for the tillage industry is the expansion of the drinks industry. Although for many years - since the foundation of the State - we trundled along with three or four distilleries, we are now heading towards having over 20 distilleries and close to 100 micro-breweries. All of this requires a supply chain of locally grown grains. A point has also been made about the level of interest in provenance. That is one of the great things about the success of the agrifood and drinks industries. Globally, there is interest in the story of our food production. It can be brought down to a more local and parochial level in the context of the point made about being able to grow more food locally and shorten supply chains. We have indigenous drinks on which we should not turn our back. We can produce food in an environmentally sustainable manner in which others are interested and that also has a story behind it. The drinks industry has a great story to tell. We were where the Scottish whisky industry is today. We were the world leader 100 years ago. For many reasons into which I will not go, we tumbled from that position, but the industry is now growing at quite a considerable pace. Irish whiskey is the fastest growing brown spirit consumed in the world and we are now almost struggling to keep up with the global demand. The industry is on a really exciting expansion curve. The grain industry is a critical part of it.

I was in Deputy Willie Penrose's constituency with my party colleague last summer. I had a very interesting experience with an organic grain farmer. If one keeps doing the same thing year in, year out and expects a different result, it is not a sure-fire recipe for success but rather the opposite. However, here is someone who switched from conventional grain growing to organic and made a real success story of it. I am sure he will not mind me mentioning his name.

Deputy Willie Penrose

Pat Lalor.

Deputy Michael Creed

Kilbeggan Organic Foods. It is an extraordinary success story.

Deputy Pat Deering

He made a contribution to the report.

Deputy Michael Creed

We also had a discussion earlier about the organic sector and its potential, with the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle, and Deputy Eamon Ryan. There is huge potential on the organic side. The two sectors in which consumer demand is greatest are probably tillage and dairy. I remember being in a supermarket in South-East Asia which was part of one of the prime retail chains. It stocked Glenisk organic yoghurt. The store manager said he could sell as much of it as we could supply to him. That market is insatiable on the organic and tillage sides.

We could become quite despondent about the industry. It is critical to the future not just of the farmers directly involved in it but also to those involved in the broader agrifood space, including livestock, dairy, pig and poultry producers - Irish rations.

In the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, this is a critical juncture for the tillage sector. We must make sure that, as we embark on the new architecture, there are no unintended consequences for a sector that could suffer significantly from some of the things that are on the table.

Deputy Pat Deering

I thank the Members for their contributions today. It has been a very interesting and informative debate. We do not get the opportunity to discuss agriculture at length in this House very often, but I believe we should discuss it more often. If it had not been for the report, this debate would probably not have happened. In particular, I thank the members of the committee for the work they put into the report. When we came back after the recess last summer, we decided that there were a number of issues on our work programme that we wanted to deal with. The tillage sector was one of the issues because of the difficulties it had experienced in the previous year. I also thank the secretariat for its work, including Josie Briody and Ivan Farmer, and prior to him Kieran Tuohy, who did the leg work and spade work in terms of putting together the report.

The tillage sector needs to be saved. We could be negative about it. We have already lost the sugar beet industry, a fact which has been well articulated in this House. It would not take much for the tillage sector to go down the same road, which is why we need to take action. There are a number of recommendations in the report, but there is no silver bullet, and we never suggested there was. We did not publish this report so that it would lie on a shelf and gather dust. We want action to be taken as a result of it to ensure the tillage sector does not go down the same slippery road as the beet sector did in the past. The beet industry, as was pointed out by various speakers, should not have been allowed to disappear in the way it has. My own area, Carlow, has never recovered as a result of the sugar factory closing. It had a knock-on effect, not just for the farmers but for the town itself. People in Carlow town worked in the industry for whatever number of months they could, and that kept them going for the rest of the year. That has been lost, and we want to make sure that does not happen in the tillage sector.

There are approximately 7,000 tillage farmers left in the country. We received submissions when we were compiling the report, and Teagasc appeared before the committee. I remember asking it how many acres a tillage farmer needs to be sustainable going forward, and the answer was between 600 and 700 acres. That is a huge amount of land. We spoke about scale a few moments ago. How is a man who grew 30 or 40 acres in the past going to survive? He will not. The Minister spoke about the amount of leased and conacre land that is required for the tillage sector. That small farmer is now competing against a diary sector that is expanding at an enormous pace. I happened to be at a function yesterday in Kilkenny where there was a panel of young farmers who spoke about the amount of money they were prepared to pay for land. They were willing to pay €300 an acre as a starting point. The tillage farmer cannot compete.

We spoke about CAP and its importance. The Minister and Deputies Penrose and Martin Kenny all referenced it. Some 85% of a tillage farmer's income comes from direct payment. That is a huge problem. No matter how much one has, one is dependent on that cheque coming in in October, with the balance at Christmas, which will only serve to pay the bills from the previous year in many cases.

I would like to compliment the Irish Grain Growers Association, which took the lead immediately after we published the report. It organised a meeting of tillage farmers from the south east. It invited Michael Hoey from Country Crest, who has been the leader of a movement to get the sugar industry going again in Ireland. He is hugely ambitious and enthusiastic about it. He attended that particular meeting and made a very valuable contribution, in my opinion, outlining exactly what would be required. He said that it would be up to the farmers to come along and make an input to ensure that such a move would be possible in the future. I believe it is worth looking again in detail at the proposal from a number of years ago that the sugar industry be re-established in Ireland. A review was carried out by the previous agriculture committee, which Deputy Penrose was on about five or six years ago. Times have changed and we should take another detailed look at that review and establish whether it would be a viable prospect or, indeed, investigate what would be required to make it a viable prospect. It could add huge value to the tillage sector going forward.

One of the growth areas in the past number of years has been the growth of the local distilleries and local breweries. There are two in my constituency, namely, Hara's Brewery, which is a worldwide business at this stage, and Walsh's Whiskey Distillery, which invested €25 million in a new distillery in Carlow and is exporting to 45 or 50 different countries around the world. That is hugely beneficial to the local community, and it has to have a knock-on effect on corn and barley growing locally. That has to be supported going forward. The number of tillage farmers - 7,000, as I said - cannot be allowed to shrink any further. There have to be incentives built into tillage farming. It has to be attractive for the young farmer today who comes out of agricultural college to go home to a tillage farm. Tillage farmers have to work together with suckler and diary farmers. They can work hand in hand. The tillage sector is more seasonable, and there is a possibility for the tillage farmer to help out suckler and diary farms and potentially generate extra income.

This has been a worthwhile exercise and I would like to compliment all those who made contributions to the report. For the record, I thank the Irish Grain Growers Association, Irish Farmers Association, Teagasc, the Alcohol and Beverage Federation of Ireland, the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association, the Science Foundation of Ireland, Boortmalt and Minchmalt, which made submissions to the report and contributions to the hearings we had. I also thank the members of the committee who put a lot of work into the report. The committee works hard and does not normally get much recognition. The committees in general do a large amount of valuable work. This report can be a stepping stone for the future of the tillage sector. It was not put together so that it would gather dust on a shelf in the Department. I urge the Ministers to ensure that as many of the recommendations in this report as possible are implemented, and as soon as possible.

Question put and agreed to.

The Dáil adjourned at 7.30 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May 2018.