At 8:30am this Saturday morning, Thomas Boyd and his brother boarded the Aranmore Island ferry with their two tractors and trailers and 13 bales of hay. After a 45min drive and a 35min crossing, they went round island farms hit by the past year's bad weather and struggling to feed livestock as fodder stocks come to an end.
"We dropped three bales here, four bales there," Thomas told the Irish Farmers Journal. While this may not sound like a lot, it made a huge difference to the small farms involved. "They have only 40 or 50 ewes each, but it's their income for the year. One man we visited didn't have one bale to his name," Thomas added.
As chair of the IFA branch in The Rosses, he delivers the fodder to those in need for free. The farmers paid for the hay and the ferry crossing. The fodder is part of a load sourced in Kilkenny and transported to Thomas's farm at the cost of the IFA. The association has been campaigning for Government support for this operation.
In the past two weeks, with help from his brother, he has dispatched three loads to local farmers facing fodder shortages. "One farmer we delivered to on Thursday was short 100 bales," Thomas said. In such extreme cases, it is unclear whether a solution will be found before animals can go out again.
The captain's view on the Aranmore Islands ferry, Co Donegal, on Saturday morning.The captain's view on the Aranmore Islands ferry, Co Donegal, on Saturday morning.
"There's a need for more fodder, but we don't know if the Government will subsidise it," Thomas said. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said this week that a fodder transport scheme would start soon, but details have yet to be made public.
Read more
Pressure mounts for fodder transport subsidy
60,000 bales needed to meet northwest fodder shortage
Silage delivered to Clare amid fodder shortage
In pictures: Beet on the boat to Bere Island
At 8:30am this Saturday morning, Thomas Boyd and his brother boarded the Aranmore Island ferry with their two tractors and trailers and 13 bales of hay. After a 45min drive and a 35min crossing, they went round island farms hit by the past year's bad weather and struggling to feed livestock as fodder stocks come to an end.
"We dropped three bales here, four bales there," Thomas told the Irish Farmers Journal. While this may not sound like a lot, it made a huge difference to the small farms involved. "They have only 40 or 50 ewes each, but it's their income for the year. One man we visited didn't have one bale to his name," Thomas added.
As chair of the IFA branch in The Rosses, he delivers the fodder to those in need for free. The farmers paid for the hay and the ferry crossing. The fodder is part of a load sourced in Kilkenny and transported to Thomas's farm at the cost of the IFA. The association has been campaigning for Government support for this operation.
In the past two weeks, with help from his brother, he has dispatched three loads to local farmers facing fodder shortages. "One farmer we delivered to on Thursday was short 100 bales," Thomas said. In such extreme cases, it is unclear whether a solution will be found before animals can go out again.
The captain's view on the Aranmore Islands ferry, Co Donegal, on Saturday morning.The captain's view on the Aranmore Islands ferry, Co Donegal, on Saturday morning.
"There's a need for more fodder, but we don't know if the Government will subsidise it," Thomas said. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said this week that a fodder transport scheme would start soon, but details have yet to be made public.
Read more
Pressure mounts for fodder transport subsidy
60,000 bales needed to meet northwest fodder shortage
Silage delivered to Clare amid fodder shortage
In pictures: Beet on the boat to Bere Island
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: