The quality of fodder that has been imported by Kerry has been “well regarded” by farmers, a spokesperson for Kerry Group has confirmed.

Since last week, Kerry has sourced over 4,000 bales of fodder for farmers in its catchment area who have indicated that they need additional supplies.

Initially, 2,000 large square bales of hay were imported from the UK late last week and they were distributed through the Kerry Agribusiness store network.

Continuing, the spokesperson said: “Within Ireland, another 1,000 bales were made available; they were sourced in the east.

As well as this, 1,000 1t bales of maize silage at about 35% dry matter were sourced over the weekend in the UK. They began to arrive yesterday.

“Last evening, another 1,000 1t bales of mainly maize silage – with some grass silage – were sourced. Transport is currently being organised and they are scheduled to arrive mid-week.”

The spokesperson added that the fodder is provided to farmers at the cost it was purchased in the UK. Each store has a log of orders and loads of imported fodder are distributed accordingly.

Kerry is constantly monitoring the situation and is prepared to import additional supplies if required.

Concluding, the spokesperson said: “The quality of feed is well regarded; there has been good feedback from farmers.

“We have done our best to meet the needs of farmers across our catchment area.”