The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to support dairy farmers who are struggling with rising input costs.
Earlier this week, the minister unveiled plans for a silage support scheme which would reward farmers with a €100/ha payment for all silage cut up to a maximum of 10ha.
However, McConalogue confirmed that the payment of up to €1,000 for saving silage or hay would be limited to beef and sheep farmers.
He pointed to research carried out by Teagasc for the National Fodder and Food Security Committee showing that “the real fodder challenge” exists for small and medium-sized beef and sheep farms.
The minister added that evidence suggests similar silage quantities to previous years are being sown on dairy farms. He added that record milk prices are helping to address the additional farm costs.
However, IFA Dairy Committee chair Stephen Arthur said that it is “inexplicable” that Minister McConalogue would not acknowledge the inputs crisis on dairy farms.
“If the minister is serious about supporting farmers during the current crisis, then he cannot overlook some sectors,” he said.
Arthur stated that the silage support scheme “is an important first step for the drystock sector, which is under significant pressure to build up feed stocks for next winter”.
“We want the minister to bring forward targeted measures for dairy farmers who need it most.
“Some are tied into fixed milk-price contracts. Others are locked up with bovine tuberculosis (TB) or have high borrowings,” he said.
Arthur suggested that the scheme could include objective criteria to ensure the payment goes to those who are under the most pressure.