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The first Fodder Action Group meeting took place in Sligo on 11 December and included senior officials from the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc, co-ops and marts in the west of Ireland.
The Fodder Action Group was put in place by the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed in response to ongoing concerns regarding fodder shortage reports in counties across the western seaboard.
Farm organisations have been calling for the introduction of a fodder scheme to support farmers who were victims of prolonged periods of bad weather during the summer months, which prevented them from making enough fodder for the winter.
Teagasc figures have shown that 61% of farmers in the Sligo/Leitrim area are short of fodder, while that figure increases to 67% in Donegal.
There has been a lot of work done, but what we need is money
However, farm organisations that attended the meeting said they felt that the Department was not taking their concerns seriously.
Pat Gilhooley from Leitrim IFA told the Irish Farmers Journal: “We’re in a fodder crisis here in this part of the country and the minister needs to accept that.
“There has been a lot of work done, but what we need is money and if they (the Department) are ruling out fodder vouchers, they need to give us something else.”
Mr Gilhooley also brought up the issue of delayed ANC payments, which is having a serious affect on farmers who are depending on their payments and need to buy fodder.
“Cattle have been housed since August and there isn’t as much fodder available as the Department thinks.
“The minister has a responsibility here and the Department don’t seem that interested at the moment,” Mr Gilhooley concluded.
Keeping the head down and hoping the problem will go away
Lorcan McCabe of the ICMSA farm business committee also found issue with the response of the official state agencies, saying that there seemed to be an attitude of “keeping the head down and hoping the problem will go away”.
Mr McCabe said: “As a farmer from the Cavan area, it is my firm belief, based on real first-hand knowledge, that this issue will not just go away and it will have to be dealt with at Government level at some stage in the next four months.
“That’s the reality and pretending anything else is futile and a waste of valuable time.”
The minister needs to get to grips with this immediately
ICSA Sligo chair Gabriel Gilmartin also questioned the level of interest the Department was showing in the issue.
Mr Gilmartin said: “The situation is extremely bad in border regions and the Minister needs to get to grips with this immediately.
“The biggest challenge is the movement of fodder. [The] ICSA has sourced fodder already in the southern half of the country and we are working with the Grain Growers’ Association to get more.
“However, it is the cost of transport that is the real killer. We also want to see meal vouchers for those most affected, which we believe should be verified by Teagasc or other planners,” Mr Gilmartin concluded.
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