€4million support package announced by Tirlán for its tillage farmers.
It’ll also support those who process their cattle through the Twenty20 Beef Club.
It comes just weeks after they declared a €30million support for milk suppliers.
The Kilkenny headquartered company has teamed with processing partner Kepak to offer an optional €30 per head advance payment to Club members who are contracted to supply beef animals through the Club before the end of September.
With regard to the challenges experienced by tillage farmers Tirlán Chairperson John Murphy says; “There was very little opportunity to sow crops after last harvest, which significantly reduced autumn plantings. This is now being compounded by the wet spring, with most farmers having little or no spring crops sown due to very poor ground conditions. Growers now face a race against time to get crops in the ground if soil conditions improve.
The key elements of the tillage support package from Tirlán Co-op are as follows:
• Tirlán will make an optional €15/tonne Advance Payment available to all grain suppliers based on their grain volumes supplied in 2023. This payment will be interest-free and will be set-off by way of deduction against actual grain payments due by Tirlán to the supplier for grain supplied at harvest 2024. The Advance Payment, which will be made to the trading accounts of participating grain suppliers, will offer approximately €3,500 of interest-free cashflow support to an average grain supplier;
• An extension of the Fertilizer Credit Scheme to the end of August – this offer of interestfree credit on crop fertilizer purchases normally ends in March;
• Tirlán will facilitate collaboration agreements between tillage farmers and the livestock sector. In these farmer-to-farmer arrangements, livestock farmers can be charged for 50% of the seed, fertiliser, agro-chemicals and other inputs required by tillage farmers to grow fodder crops such as maize, beet and other forage crops. These arrangements should utilise the well-established Contract Forage Cropping Agreement developed by Teagasc.
Seán Molloy, Tirlán Chief Executive Designate, said the Co-op is putting in place targeted supports to assist its tillage farmers, noting; “We are very conscious of the challenge faced by our tillage farmers and are pleased to announce this package of measures to support them as they bid to get crops sown. On top of
our track record of paying the strongest possible market price for grain at harvest, our Agronomy team will continue to support farmers as they adjust their cropping plans and try to overcome the weather challenge.”
