AgribusinessIreland's young farmers' organisation has welcomed Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen's emphasis on productive farming at the National Ploughing Championships and urged him not to drop the ball on an active-farmer definition that excludes those who merely own or manage land.
With 19 of every 20 litres of Irish milk leaving the island, Dairy Industry Ireland director Conor Mulvihill says the country pays the world price and must think of itself as a nutrition industry, while a survey shows one in three farmers plans to quit within five years.
AHDB analysis shows Brazil shipped over 3,200 tonnes of beef to the UK in August, up 52% on a year earlier, after rushing 20,000 tonnes into the EU ahead of the 3 September ban, while Australia redirects beef away from China; Irish beef exports to the UK were worth an estimated €1.7 billion in 2025.
Centenary Thurles has set Harvest 2026 prices of €225/t for feed barley, €237/t for feed wheat and €220/t for oats, a year-on-year rise that the IFA and the Irish Grain Growers' Group say still falls short of soaring input costs on tillage farms.
LivestockRain has eased the soil moisture deficits that dogged the south and south-east of Ireland all summer, lifting the national average grass growth rate to 63kg of dry matter per hectare, PastureBase Ireland reports.
AgribusinessAdvance payments under the Areas of Natural Constraints scheme accounted for €179 million of the week's total from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, reaching more than 85,000 farmers.
AgribusinessThe Department of Agriculture wants to share its solar grant payment records with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland so that no farm installation is funded under both schemes; a public consultation runs until October 14.
AgribusinessThe Irish dairy processor said a technical banking issue held up this month's milk payments, with suppliers at some banks waiting until Monday, days after it set an August price of 39.6c/L.
LivestockFormer Macra president Thomas Duffy told an Agriland panel at the Ploughing that blood testing should be compulsory in confirmed breakdown areas, that reactors must leave farms faster and that sick badgers are being left behind.
Market ManagementThe farmer-owned co-operative set its August price at 39.08c/L and promised a floor for September to December, as Dairygold lifted its August price by 0.5c/L to 39c/L.
AgrotechFTMTA executive director Michael Farrelly sees grass machinery selling well on the back of dairy, horsepower creeping up as labour gets scarce, and renewed interest in efficient four-cylinder tractors as fuel costs bite.
Market ManagementThe co-op's chairperson cites stronger protein and cheese returns and slowing European milk supply; Kinisla also added 0.5c to reach 39.6c/L and Lakeland set 39.1c/L in the Republic and 31.4p/L in Northern Ireland.
AgribusinessDemand for the farm modernisation grants has forced ranking and selection on recent tranches; 69,593 applications were lodged across the first twelve, and tranche 14 is open until December 4.
