The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) today (Monday, September 30) urged the government to introduce a fodder support scheme for sheep and cattle farmers in Budget 2025.
John Joe Fitzgerald, national vice-president of the INHFA, said that the organisation has seen an increase in the number of farmers contacting it with concerns about their fodder supplies.
Fitzgerald said: “With grass growth over the summer well behind previous years, leading to lower fodder supplies, farms across the country are now looking at tight supplies for the coming winter.
“This reduction in the amount of silage and hay made has been further complicated in western areas through August, where heavy rain forced many farmers into housing stock and feeding silage that was already in short supply.”
The INHFA said there is an urgent need to put in place a scheme that will support farmers to “accommodate their specific requirements”.
Fitzgerald said this is because some farmers will need support to buy silage or hay while others may want to “extend existing fodder stocks through the feeding of meal and for other farmers, the purchasing of straw may help in both their bedding and fodder requirements.”
The INHFA vice president believe farmers need a scheme which pays “a specific amount of money” based around their cattle and sheep numbers.
Fodder
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has urged farmers still facing fodder shortages to “engage with their advisors and complete fodder budgets”.
Minister Charlie McConalogue also said farmers should assess their winter feed requirements for stock and “make provisions to secure feed”.
He said the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is continuing to monitor the fodder situation closing and he is “very aware of the challenges that weather conditions have placed on farmers this year”.
Separately the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has also warned that some farmers are still waiting for payments from the Fodder Transport Support Measure.
IFA rural development chair, John Curran said fewer 700 farmers applied for this measure last April but to date have not received any payments.
“We were told it was coming mid-August, then September 20 and now we are hearing it could be mid-October before payments commence.
“It’s just not good enough. Farmers in limbo can’t budget and schedule repayments.
“Many are waiting on these payments to make arrangements for the coming winter too. The department needs to sort this out and get money into farmers’ accounts as soon as possible,” Curran said.
The IFA has also urged Minister Charlie McConalogue “to ensure maximum payments are delivered on time to all farmers in the coming weeks”.
“Minister McConalogue needs to ensure there are no hold-ups with payments, whether that’s balancing Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments, Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), eco-scheme payments, or fodder transport payments.
“In Tuesday’s Budget, he needs to land a series of targeted measures to support the most vulnerable farm sectors,” Curran added.