Co-op comes to aid of farmers devastated by bad weather
Many farmers have been carrying a heavy burden alone and didn’t call for help, even as thousands of their cattle died last april. That situation cannot be allowed to happen again, writes
Well done to Dairygold Co-op for launching measures to help farmers devastated by a year of bad weather.
Just how tough a time farmers have been through has been revealed in Department of Agriculture statistics showing that on-farm cattle deaths in the first four months of this year increased 20%, from 130,480 in 2017 to 156,877 in 2018.
Ominously, the most recent figures available are for April, and they show a 30% increase, from 34,405 in 2017 to 44,625 in 2018 (1,487 per day).
The increased death toll comes as no major surprise after bad weather since the previous autumn prevented production of adequate winter fodder, and continued into April, when torrential rain made grazing very difficult.
Fodder reserves were used up out on nearly all farms.
Many grazing fields were damaged by wet weather, which also disrupted cereal crop planting and management, resulting in reduced grain and straw yields now.
Luckily, a weather reprieve came in May allowing good grass growth and high yields of first cut silage.
But it was only a reprieve and was followed by Ireland’s worst drought conditions since 1976.
It has quickly become clear that the drought will result in an even greater winter fodder scarcity than in 2017-18.
That means another hard winter for farmers and their livestock, and raised the question of how much more of this they can take.
Dairygold Co-op has identified a potential current shortfall of about 25% of winter fodder supplies, and moved to help farmers.
Glanbia, the largest milk purchaser, has also been proactive since June in advising farmers and offering help. Their milk supply area, mostly in Leinster, has been hardest hit by drought conditions.
It is only fitting that the co-ops come to the aid of their members and suppliers.
How useful their measures will be will vary from farm to farm, but farmers at least know that someone is watching out for them, they are not on their own.
Teagasc has also made huge efforts to get advice to farmers (all farmers, not just clients, can call their 087-7971377 advice helpline).
Now it is the turn of the Government to reassure farmers that it will help, as soon as the national fodder census is completed by Teagasc. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has said the results will inform any further action that may be necessary this autumn. No time should be lost by the Government in formulating how it can help.
Meanwhile, Dairygold Co-op has identified the importance of linking tillage and livestock farmers.
It says it is facilitating and encouraging member grain growers to link with livestock farmers for farm-to-farm whole crop trading, where suitable, in line with the co-op’s pilot programme with Teagasc to develop inter-farm trading of forages.
This decisive breakthrough move holds huge potential, especially if the co-op acts as a third party in the trading, helping to set prices at a fair level and providing some reassurance of payment for the traders.
An effective farmer-to-farmer fodder trading framework that buyer and seller can have full confidence in, without fear of bad debts, can go a long way to easing fodder deficits.
Co-ops such as Lakeland Dairies usefully played this role last spring when the fodder crisis escalated.
This kind of initiative is badly needed in an industry where a shortage of labour resources is a major long-term challenge, and it will be even harder to attract workers if traumatic fodder shortages crop up year after year, due to weather which leaves farms like paddy fields in April and deserts in June.
In 2018, the Department of Agriculture assisted only eight farmers with Animal Welfare Emergency arrangements. This indicates that many farmers have been carrying a heavy burden alone and didn’t call for help, even as thousands of their cattle died last April.
That situation cannot be allowed to happen again next spring.
