Fodder: Minister ‘doing the groundwork’ before action taken
The government is gathering evidence on the fodder situation before deciding on the next steps, according to Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke.
Speaking at the launch of the National Ploughing Championships 2026 today (Thursday, August 20), Minister Burke said that the Department for Agriculture has been gathering evidence on the extent of fodder shortages across the country.
A meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC) will take place tomorrow (Friday August 21) against the backdrop of farmers being forced to use winter fodder reserves due to poor grass growth during the dry spell.
Minister Burke outlined that the government now needs to assess the available data before deciding what action may be required.
He said: "When you see zero grazing going on to the extent that it is right now and dairy farmers in particular already eating into their fodder storage, that's very concerning.
"On the tillage side, there's a lot of concern in terms of yields being down and a lot of crops have been damaged, so there's a lot of uncertainty at play."
Burke said that conditions and fodder stocks vary significantly across the country, with his own family farm in Mullingar not as badly affected compared to some areas in the east and south-east of the country.
"I know Minister Heydon is doing the groundwork now, building the evidence, looking at the data and then action will be taken subsequent to that.
"But you do need your evidence first because you need to see how acute the problem is and what's going to happen over the next number of weeks," he added.
Fuel prices
Minister Burke also addressed concerns from the agricultural sector over the planned increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel from next month onwards.
He said that the government is "actively reviewing" the planned increases and is taking into consideration how significantly the situation, regarding the Strait of Hormuz, has changed since the cuts were first introduced.
The minister highlighted that the price of green diesel has risen from around 94c/L last July to approximately €1.24/L currently.
"That's about 30% of an increase on net effect, which is pretty significant for the agri-economy and indeed the wider economy," he added.
With Budget 2027 only 50 days away, Burke said that government leaders, including the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance, are assessing the situation in that context.
When asked whether the government would be prepared to recall the Dáil early if necessary in order to delay the potential increase, the minister did not rule out the possibility of this happening.
"The government has intervened at every point to protect the agri-economy, protecting those who use fuel in everyday work," he said.
