The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has told the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC) that there is “no money” for a fodder support scheme.
During an online meeting today (Friday, March 29), the committee heard that there are currently silage stocks in the country but that farmers in some areas are experiencing shortages.
Members of the committee outlined the mental and physical stress currently on farmers, not just as a result of poor weather and fodder shortages, but also from workload and cash flow issues.
While noting that some farmers are facing difficulties, Louise Byrne, deputy chief inspector with DAFM, said that there is an “availability of fodder” in the country.
She said that there is “no money for subsidising feed purchases or for having a fodder support scheme for 2024”.
However, she appealed to any farmer who has run out of silage to contact the department in confidence.
There were also repeated calls by members of the committee for a temporary suspension of DAFM and Bord Bia farm inspections to help ease the burden on farmers.
In response, the department’s deputy chief inspector said that “any delay in inspections will mean delay in payments”.
Byrne said that she would relay the concerns raised about the additional stress caused to farmers by a farm inspection with her colleagues in the department.
Fodder
Pearse Kelly, head of drystock with Teagasc, told the meeting that 784 drystock farmers responded to a survey carried out by Teagasc this week, the majority of whom were based in Leinster and Munster.
Half of respondents said that they would run out of silage in the next three weeks, with 29% of those having silage stocks of between 0-10 days.
35% (217) of farmers said that they were currently buying silage and 44% of those reported that bales were costing €30-40 each.
Only around a quarter of drystock farmers said they had some cattle at grass, while 66% said that slurry storage was becoming an issue on their yards.
The survey also showed that 89% of respondents had not spread any fertiliser so far this year.
Based on feedback from Teagasc advisors, Kelly said that most livestock farms are at least 7-10 days away from turning out large numbers of stock.
He advised farmers unable to graze heavy covers on silage ground to apply a small amount of nitrogen (N) and cut in early May, if possible.
Dairy
Joe Patton, head of Teagasc’s dairy knowledge transfer department, said that advisors were reporting that 51% of dairy farmers were behind on their grazing rotation, 39% have little or no grazing done and 10% are on target.
47% of dairy farmers said that animals were fully housed, while 49% were getting out to grass by day.
Around 7% of advisors reported that more than a quarter of their dairy farmer clients had run out of silage, with the majority of these in Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny.
Patton said that the number of dairy farmers who are “definitively out” of silage is “relatively small at this point” but this could increase if weather and ground conditions do not improve.
66% said that silage was available to buy locally, but stocks were limited.
58% have applied some fertiliser and slurry, 35% have only spread slurry and 7% have not applied fertiliser or slurry.
The committee heard that farmers should not rule out grazing for the next week.
Patton said that even two dry days could make a big difference on some farms which would allow for daytime grazing, particularly for early calved cows approaching peak milk production.
Chair of the NFFSC Mike Magan appealed to farmers to look out for their friends and neighbours during this challenging time.