Farmers in the west of the country who have been forced to keep cows and cattle housed because of weather conditions are under “extreme pressure” as fodder costs mount, one farm organisation has warned.
Water-logged land in Co. Galway has pushed demand for fodder to a high at this time of year and also forced some farmers to pay out for feed that they may not have budgeted for.
Stephen Canavan, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Co. Galway chair, told Agriland that sucker farmers, especially those had planned to let young calves out, were really having to stretch out stocks or buy more in.
“A lot depends on stocking rates but if you take farmers who have had cattle in since October then they really need to get them out to grass as soon as possible.
“The problem is with the level of rain that we have had, that just has not been an option as fields are saturated and then because they haven’t been able to get slurry out the tanks are also full.
“What we’re seeing is that farmers, particularly suckler and some dairy farmers are really under pressure at this time and they’re just hoping for a change in the weather,” Canavan said.
He said one other factor that has caused issues for some farmers is poor-quality silage and with bales estimated at between €35-40, he said farmers simply cannot afford to be paying for below-average fodder.
According to the Galway IFA chair, ongoing high input costs – including fertiliser and strong feed prices – are adding to the growing financial pressures that farmers are under.
“We know that funds are running low and that the funds that some farmers had built up are getting depleted because of high costs – they’re having to pay high fertiliser prices up front and high meal prices are also an issue.
“But beef prices are good at this time so it may be a case for some farmers that they may think of selling off some cattle because of the cost of feeding and having to keep them housed,” Canavan added.
Met Éireann said today (Thusday, March 30) that the last week has been “wetter than normal”. It also warned that it is likely to continue to be “wetter than average over the coming week, with similar amounts to last week expected”.
The meteorological service has indicated that 25-45mm is expected over the coming week “which will be more than twice the average for some areas”.
It also confirmed that “most soils are saturated or waterlogged”.