Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, is due to speak at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) of the Irish Grain Growers’ Group (IGGG).

His attendance at the event is significant for a number of reasons.

In the first instance, it sends a strong signal of there being the need for a bespoke tillage lobby group in Ireland.

Moreover, the minister also knows that he must commit to the sector in a meaningful way during the early weeks of 2026.

To their credit, IGGG members have committed long hours to the cause of communicating the key messages that pertain to Irish crop production to the very heart of government and the public at large.

And all of this work has been undertaken on a voluntary basis.

Consider the facts - if tillage gets the right incentives over the coming years, it may well end up having a footprint that extends to one million acres.

And such is the nature of crop production that the industry will take the fore in the context of Ireland’s response to the growing threat of climate change.

IGGG AGM

It is logical to assume that Martin Heydon will have something important to say during his address to the upcoming AGM.

And the only show in turn, where this issue is concerned, will be the outworking of the bespoke funding package earmarked for the tillage industry in Budget 2026.

So are we looking at one year injection of support funding, or something more strategic and long-term in nature?

Tillage farmers will be hoping that the latter is the case. They are fully aware of the fact that the outlook for international grain prices remains weak – with no uplift of any nature on the horizon.

Meanwhile, all growers’ input costs continue to strengthen at a ferocious rate.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out the impact of these trends - continuing pressure on grower margins.

And, of course, as a tillage farmer himself, Martin Heydon must be aware of this reality.

And let’s not forget the promises made to tillage farmers by both his own Fine Gael party and Fianna Fáil in the run-up to the December 2024 election.

So there would seem to be many good reasons for the government committing to a strategic, multi-annual support package, targeted specifically at the tillage sector.

Meanwhile, the protests against the free trade deal involving the European Union and the Mercosur group of South American countries continue apace.

And while beef has been the commodity at the centre of this debacle, very little has been said about the impact of unrestricted grain and protein imports from South America into Europe for many years.

Quite rightly, Irish tillage farmers feel very aggrieved about the matter.

And given this reality it would be more than appropriate for Martin Heydon to reflect on the issue while addressing IGGG members.