18 July 2024
Tillage crop area remains steady despite challenges
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has released figures indicating that the overall area of tillage crops in Ireland for 2024 remains relatively stable, despite facing significant weather challenges.
The total tillage area, including cereals, maize, oilseed rape (OSR), protein crops, and beet, stands at 334,450 hectares, a slight decrease of approximately 1% from 2023.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D., highlighted the resilience of the tillage sector amidst prolonged wet weather since last autumn and a difficult harvest in 2023. He noted that the overall crop area has increased by almost 21,000 hectares, or 6%, over the last four years. The government continues to support the sector, recognizing its importance for food security and climate change objectives. Minister McConalogue reaffirmed his commitment to seeking a €100/hectare payment for all farmers planting field crops for the 2024 harvest.
The wet autumn of 2023 led to reduced winter cereal plantings, with the winter cereal area at approximately 94,000 hectares, about 70% of the 2019-2023 average. However, a 10% increase in spring cereals, bringing the total to 168,954 hectares, offset this reduction, keeping the total cereal area within 3% of last year’s figures.
The area of non-cereal crops, including protein crops, beet, maize, and OSR, increased by 5% to 71,500 hectares in 2024. Notably, the area of protein crops rose by 20% to over 21,000 hectares, and maize saw a similar 20% increase to over 23,000 hectares.