Heydon officially unveils €30m support package for tillage sector
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has officially launched a new €30 million support package for the tillage sector today (Tuesday, February 24).
Specific funding in the region of €50 million had been ringfenced in Budget 2026 for a new Tillage Support Scheme, as well as the Protein Aid Scheme and the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM).
According to Minister Heydon, tillage farming "plays an important role in the sustainability of the agri-food sector as a whole and is recognised as one of the most carbon efficient sectors in Irish agriculture".
The minister added: "I wish to acknowledge the significant challenges faced by the sector in recent years.
"Following two particularly difficult years in 2023 and 2024, and more recently a challenging market situation with downward price pressure internationally, this, along with high costs of production, have placed considerable strain on growers’ margins.”
Minister Heydon said the new National Tillage Sustainability Support Scheme "will provide for a degressive rate of payment to applicants who declared cereal and oilseed rape crops on their 2025 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based application".
He added: “I secured this funding to help underpin the sector and boost confidence by providing farmers with the necessary financial supports to assist them in the season ahead.
"The tillage sector is extremely important to this government, and it is a sector we want to see grow in the years ahead.
"This scheme demonstrates the government’s commitment to supporting the sector and advances the commitment set out in the Programme for Government, as well as a key recommendation in the Food Vision Tillage Group Report regarding the importance of delivering significant supports for the tillage sector.”
Tillage support scheme
The crops that qualify for the new National Tillage Sustainability Support Scheme include barley, wheat, oats, rye triticale, and oilseed rape.
Farmers must have declared eligible crops on their 2025 BISS and other area-based application in order to apply for payments.
Online applications can be made via My AgFood portal and the scheme closing date for applications is March 9, 2026.
Tillage farmers
The Minister of State for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports, Seán Canney, has welcomed the new support package for tillage farmers.
Minister Canney said tillage farmers had experienced sustained pressure in recent years.
"This €30 million scheme provides targeted support at a critical time in the season," he added.
