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What a week for sheep farmers. The announcement by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed of compulsory EID tagging of all sheep the other week had all the finesse of a bull in a china shop.
Not only does it add costs for the primary producers of the sheep sector, but it was announced on the same day it was proposed there would be a reduction in the CAP budget after what has been the hardest spring in living memory for farmers.
On average, it will cost farmers an additional €2m to implement which would normally be spent in the rural communities supporting much-needed jobs. Now this will go to a tiny number of tag supply companies.
The minister has really added insult to injury for any large-scale sheep producers with the offer of €50 compensation on the first order of tags.
It seems to me the minister hasn’t fully thought things through either with the time scale he has in mind.
Starting it in the middle of the store lamb trading season will only increase confusion among farmers, possibly altering trading patterns as many will try and get stores sold before the new tagging system is introduced, leaving the store buyers in a situation where they will have to upgrade all the lambs to the proposed new system.
On top of all of that, will the marts, factories and the Department have the required infrastructure in place so that there will be no ramifications for farmers due to any inaccuracies or errors made in the changeover period to a new IT system which are all too often systematic of any new system?
Yes, when this system is up and running we should have a state-of-the-art traceability system for the food we produce but, without markets that will cover the costs associated, we will need answers as to why.
Grass growth
Back on the farm, grass has really taken off, with growth of 122kg DM/ha last week. I have been able to drop out a good few fields for silage.
This will be cut as soon as the nitrogen levels have dropped enough and before it starts to head out, as the quality of the silage starts to diminish after this. I will need to make between 500 and 600 round bales to carry the ewes over next winter and to have a surplus in case we have another long winter.
I am also hoping to get started on some reseeding now that the weather has become a little bit more seasonal. Firstly, I will work on the fields that had the Redstart in over the winter.
They have started to green up a bit and the weeds are actively growing so I plan to spray them with glyphosate prior to sowing the field.
Usually I get the reseeding done with a MooreUnidrill but I am considering using a one-pass this year as there are a few ruts left from where we were driving out with bales of silage over the winter.
Given all of the things that have been going on of late in the sheep industry, I am looking forward to attending the Irish Grassland Association’s Sheep conference next week in the Horse and Jockey and afterwards on John Large’s farm.
The association usually provides a great day out and a positive outlook on the sector. It is always interesting to meet with other farmers and catch up with friends.
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