The IFA and the ICMSA have encouraged their members to make provisions for the severe cold snap following Met Éireann’s recent weather warnings.

Heavy snow and freezing conditions have already caused difficulty on some farms, with pipes freezing overnight and farmers fearing that conditions could deteriorate further as Storm Emma approaches on Thursday.

It is clear that the fodder scheme that is in place is not working

The IFA National Council meeting that was due to take place today (28 February) has been postponed and IFA president Joe Healy is encouraging farm families to take precautions when farming over the next few days.

Regarding livestock, the IFA president said: “Animals need to be well nourished in the cold weather and the possibility of getting them out to grass, given the current weather conditions, is now very much on hold, which will have an impact on already tight fodder supplies.

“Minister Creed must rethink his current inadequate response to the fodder difficulties. It is clear that the fodder scheme that is in place is not working and IFA’s proposal for a meal voucher scheme should be brought back to the table.”

ICMSA

The deputy president of the ICMSA Lorcan McCabe has advised farmers to check on elderly neighbours and ensure they’re prepared to cope with freezing conditions.

“Freezing weather usually increases the risk of accidents so that’s obviously the first thing that we’d ask people to be really conscious of, the amount of work on farms is likely to increase further due to freezing pipes – not only for maintaining a water supply for animals but also keeping milking machines functioning,” McCabe said.

The ICMSA deputy president dismissed the prospects of a shortage of milk in shops after the recently reported bread shortage.

“There will be more than sufficient stocks held at Co-ops and processors so that even if collections from farms are knocked out for a couple of days, we don’t see that being a problem in the circumstances that are being predicted as of now," McCabe concluded.

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Is your farm ready for severe frost?

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How to manage cows and calves in extreme cold