Calls for crisis fund for west

Ongoing income and weather woes have led to calls for a crisis fund for western farmers. Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice wants emergency funding for farmers, particularly in the west and northwest.

His call comes amid widespread fears for the immediate viability of grain farmers as the harvest fails.

“I am calling on Enda Kenny to personally intervene to announce an emergency fund to assist small family farms who are now in crisis, and I want Minister Michael Creed to extend the slurry spreading deadline to the end of October,” Fitzmaurice said.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny said at the National Ploughing Championships: “Clearly farming is an issue we’re very concerned about. Farming is cyclical, but we are conscious of the challenges that people face.”

IFA president Joe Healy said: “Poor prices, particularly for grain and milk, have placed incomes under pressure nationally, but the woeful weather in the west has created a genuine crisis.” Healy welcomed the minister’s commitment to a tillage forum. He also questioned whether there would be enough fodder to cope with a long winter.

A source close to the minister said Fitzmaurice should be acutely aware of the commitment to farming in the Programme for Government.

“Michael Fitzmaurice was a party to and in agreement with the proposals to deliver a €25m/year sheep scheme in this year’s budget.”

Next year’s budget will see the rowing back of cuts to the Disadvantaged Area Scheme, with another €25m a year committed there. The Rural Development Programme is cranking up as schemes such as TAMS, GLAS and BGDP move into peak spending.

“We are committed under the BDGP, you know there is €300m under BDGP and there’s €250m in GLAS. We are not going to leave any penny of that behind us,” the minister told the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday..