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The Tillage Podcast - Live record on Irish grain, fieldwork and tillage payments

February 26, 2026·28 min·2 clips

Craig England had to abandon malting barley after his contract was slashed by over 30%, a devastating blow to his farm's income.

Wexford gives this one a live-room feel. Siobhan Walsh opens from the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society Spring Workshop, and the audience questions shape the recording from the start. Fieldwork is already on everyone's mind. The episode promises a practical run through grain, markets, audience questions, and payments, with wet field work sitting in the background. There is some lift in it too. The bumper stickers and the line about keeping the tillage flag flying are small touches, but they land because the sector could use a bit of positivity. The episode is split in two. Part one stays with the live workshop discussion, while part two is held for markets, sustainability payments, and government support. The strongest section is on Irish grain. A guest explains that an Irish government agency cannot simply promote Irish grain for its own sake because EU funding rules shape the work. So the path has to be more careful. The proposed answer is an ISO-approved programme that lets ingredients from qualifying schemes get priority without making a blunt national preference claim. That brings the Tillage Assurance Scheme into the centre of the discussion. The possible prize, as described here, is a premium on the feed side. AGNAB then becomes part of the same conversation. The host tells the live audience plainly that uptake is low, even among people who probably should be filling it out. David makes the practical case for it. He treats AGNAB as a planning and measurement tool, not a magic fix, and says it can keep more control with farmers themselves. It still does not have the accreditation levels needed. The episode closes by widening back out, with nods to farmers from the tramlines, trends management, the weather report, and the next part of the live recording.

As heard by us

Live tillage discussion that ties weather, markets, and scheme talk back to the farm gate.

Recorded live in Wexford at the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society Spring Workshop, this episode keeps its feet on the ground. It moves from field work to markets to audience questions without losing the practical thread, and Siobhan Walsh does a steady job of tying crop and…

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Why you'd press play

Want the tillage-room version of a live fieldwork, markets, and farm-measurement check-in?

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