Two phone helplines set up by Teagasc to provide advice to tillage and livestock farmers on how to manage their farms in the face of challenges from wet weather saw around 15 calls per day between them.
That’s according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, who spoke in the Dáil today in a debate on weather-related supports for farmers.
The two helplines – the Teagasc National Crops Helpline and the Teagasc National Grassland Helpline – opened on April 8 and remained operational until Saturday last (April 20).
Teagasc advisors and specialists provided advice via the helplines to farmers in making decisions to cope with the difficulties caused by the weather.
The helplines were open to all farmers seeking advice in coping with the ongoing wet weather and challenging soil conditions.
Speaking in the Dáil, Minister McConalogue said: “I asked Teagasc to engage proactively with farmers and, in response, it set up those dedicated helplines… There were approximately 15 calls per day received from farmers across the two helplines.
“There were some farmers in difficult circumstances and they were given advice and support through these helplines and now, thankfully, with the improvement in weather conditions over the past week, [the numbers of] calls to the helpline have subsided almost entirely towards the end of last week,” the minister added.
The minister also confirmed that the fodder register that Teagasc has been running since earlier this month has seen significantly more farmers offering to sell fodder than those looking to purchase it.
He told that Dáil: “I asked Teagasc to establish a system in the last number of weeks for coordinating advisory supports to help farmers maximise existing fodder stocks and to provide a basis for those with surpluses to engage with those need fodder.
“In response to this, Teagasc set up a fodder register which is helping connect farmers who have fodder available with those who require it. We’ve seen over 250 farmers contacting Teagasc since the setting up of the register, with the majority of farmers offering fodder for sale continuing to exceed the number of farmers seeking fodder by a ratio of two-and-a-half to one,” the minister added.
Minister McConalogue said that the ratio between the two figures is a “positive reflection of the level of stocks within the country, albeit with significant pressures and shortages at an individual farm level”.