Amy Lewis Drainage, farm intensification, upland burning, land abandonment, afforestation have decimated curlews

An astonishing 77% of farmers have said the Government should find a way to ensure that underused land is given over to growing fodder, when they were interviewed for this year’s Irish Examiner/ICMSA opinion poll.

Imports alone will not solve the fodder problem, warned Agriculture Minister Michael Creed last week.

An extra 23,000 hectares of catch crops is the aim of the €100-155 per hectare incentive for tillage farmers announced last week by the government.

The Agriculture Minister has been accused by farm organisations of failing to grasp the enormity of the fodder crisis, and they warn that immediate supports are needed to stave off another emergency.

Met Eireann said early this week grass growth was practical non-existent, and the potato crop could only survive with the intervention of artificial watering.

The first 80 farmers, with 4,134 hectares designated for breeding hen harrier, have been selected from expressions of interest submitted in December.

Farmers can look back over the year, and hopefully can see how their business has improved, how they have added to their lot, and provided for themselves and their families, writes Kieran Coughlan.

Ireland’s agriculture sector is facing increasing pressure to improve farm sustainability on many fronts.

Farmers on environmentally sensitive lands along the Shannon estuary are seeking restoration of ‘Farm Plan’ schemes compensating them for restricting their land use.

The Hill Farming Forum in Connemara organised by the IFA last week was an opportunity to examine how best to unlock the potential of farming on our uplands.

As farmers, it often feels that we have to fight for everything that other people take for granted, writes ICSA rural development chairman Seamus Sherlock.

Enhanced direct payments, low cost short-term loans and the abolition of EU import tariffs on fertiliser are on the IFA’s menu of solutions for the income crisis facing farmers.

As the income crisis deepens across all farming sectors, the IFA is sending a clear message to the Government that urgent action is needed.

The leader of the Irish Farmers Association has claimed the farm income crisis is deepening because of falling prices and poor weather.

Even for the experts in Teagasc, the Basic Payment Scheme applications were not plain sailing.

Conservation of traditional farm buildings is to be grant-aid on GLAS farms.