The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that potential shortages in feed and fertiliser will have a severe impact on sheep farmers if the sector is not addressed.
The national sheep chair of the IFA, Kevin Comiskey said that sheep farmers could face “serious implications” if the sector is not supported.
He added that “sheep farmers have input demands on their farms like all other sectors”.
Availability and cost issues are causing huge concern for farmers, the sheep chair said, including higher contractor costs for baling.
He explained:
“Sheep farming is an extremely low-income sector and the current levels of input cost increases cannot be absorbed on our farms. We must have immediate [and] direct support for sheep farmers to offset the costs of fertiliser, feed and fuel.”
The IFA sheep chair said restrictions in particular in the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) must be removed on wild bird cover, traditional hay meadows and low input grassland.
This is needed to ensure grass growth can be maximised, he said and added that “sheep farmers must be allowed to use all lands at their disposal to produce food”.
Comiskey explained that any reduction in grass production will impact the sheep sector first.
“A key aspect of sheep farming, for a significant number of farmers, is the store-lamb trade. This trade is dependent on grass supplies and will be the first to suffer if there is any reduction in grass production,” he explained.
The IFA sheep chair added that farmers have been repeatedly told about the importance of guaranteed lamb supplies for key markets.
Direct supports are needed to protect markets and to avoid disruption in the sector, the chair said.
He added that the emphasis must be on maximising resources to grow grass and on an additional plan for sheep farmers, should there be any impact on store sales due to reduced volumes of feed or grass grown this year.