Minister: Fodder shortage not a crisis

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has refused to describe this year’s fodder shortage as a national crisis, but has warned that farmers could experience severe difficulties again this winter.

Mr Creed said the fodder shortages experienced by farmers this year were localised and strongly denied they amounted to a national crisis.

With grass now burnt up after months of drought, Mr Creed said fodder supplies may be even tighter this winter if emergency action is not taken.

Last week, Mr Creed announced a €2.75m scheme to encourage tillage farmers to plant fast-growing fodder crops to make up for a shortage of hay and silage caused by the summer drought.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Creed said: “Last winter, every bit of headroom that was available was used in terms of resources of fodder so rebuilding those reserves and being able to face the demand into next winter with adequate fodder provision is now very challenging.”

While transport initiatives and importation subsidies were provided by the Department of Agriculture earlier this year, the Cork North West TD suggested farmers cannot become reliant on grants as in future these will only be awarded on a “case-by-case” basis, if at all.

He said: “I think we are living with the manifestation of climate change in all its colours and its challenging.

Given the fact that climate change is a reality, it’s something that we probably need to be more conscious of in terms of inside the farm gate preparations.

“It’s prudent to make provision for a long winter. You can’t always count on cattle going in on the second week in November and having them out by the middle of February. That’s not going to happen every year. In fac,t it is becoming more and more challenging to meet those deadlines, so more provision is necessary and I think farmers will learn that lesson.”

Mr Creed said farmers should be evaluating their operations ahead of winter and those who find they are “too highly geared” may have to cut back stock.

Exceptionally bad weather last winter meant farmers across the country were left without feed and became reliant on imported fodder.

Mr Creed said the past year had been a “rollercoaster” for farmers.

Some people have referred to it as a national fodder crisis, I don’t think it was,” he said.

“It was very challenging for a number of individual holdings but if you consider in terms of what we required to import, we imported 18,500 tonnes of fodder with State assistance.

“In the context of 7m cattle in the country, that’s the equivalent of about eight hours’ feed.”

Separately Mr Creed is confident that the dairy sector, which was “artificially restrained” by quotas, has the potential to expand further in the coming years.

“Ambition isn’t a sin and the dairy industry has been held back, it has been held back for nearly 30 years with quotas, we are now unleashing our potential,” he said.