‘We must work together to get through fodder crisis’

Following a very wet summer and an extended winter, conditions for farmers are very challenging.

My department has been working on this over the winter and continues to monitor the situation very closely on a daily basis.

I am acutely aware of the challenging conditions farmers have been working under for the past months. The bad weather has been unprecedented, and we now find ourselves having to import fodder from the UK, a situation that has not occurred before. The strong sense of neighbour helping neighbour, which rural communities are known for throughout the country, has been evident in recent weeks and the farming community is to be commended for pulling together to get through this fodder crisis.