Deputy Wilson has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment of the House the animal feed crisis in County Cavan and the alarming increase in animal deaths in the past few weeks.
Adjournment Debate. - Animal Feed Crisis.
A Cheann Comhairle, first of all I want to thank you very sincerely for giving me an opportunity to raise this very urgent matter in the House by way of an Adjournment Debate. The position is a very serious one. The background to my asking for permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment is that an ACOT meeting was held in Ballyhaise Agricultural College yesterday because of the very serious crisis in the county at present. I do not want to be parochial or exclusively county minded and I have had discussions with people today from Counties Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Donegal who find themselves in a similar plight. I want to compliment our spokesman, who is from County Limerick. The crisis is not as severe in the south of Ireland as compared with the north. I want to compliment him on knowing that the crisis existed. In fact, had I known that he was going to raise it on the Adjournment I would not have asked. I want to divide my time briefly with Deputy Noonan and Deputy J. Leonard, with the indulgence of the Chair.
Present at the meeting in Ballyhaise Agricultural College were the ACOT members, public representatives, representatives of the Agricultural Credit Corporation, the Ulster Bank, Allied Irish Banks and the Bank of Ireland.
Thus, one can see what was in the minds of the ACOT people by looking at those whom they had invited to the meeting. There has been serious panic about fodder since the week before last. We had a bad summer, a bad autumn and a bad winter in 1985. Calculations were made that there would be some grass growing at least by 1 April. We have had severe east wind weather throughout January, February and March. There is no substantial growth and no sign of any such growth. Hence, the panic.
A local dead animals processing factory has had a 33 per cent increase in intake from the area which it covers, 67 per cent of it from the local area — I am trying to give an idea of the seriousness of the matter. Comparing the past three weeks with the similar three weeks of 1985 there has been a 72 per cent increase. These are checked statistics and I am using them to impress on the House the seriousness of the problem. The agricultural advisers have been telling people to have their first cut of silage ready for harvest in May. This, as became clear from the discussion, is pie in the sky. The grass will be eaten, when it grows that is — it has not even started to grow in that area. A May silage was one of the big and well grounded, scientifically, drives that was being made by the agricultural advisers in the area. That is only a dream, as one member of the ACOT committee said at the meeting. I want to mention in passing that there is a serious problem with sheep in the western part of the county as well as in other counties.
The very best farms which have made the very best provisions and calculations are out of fodder at present. There were complaints about the voucher scheme in that people who bought hay against the possibility had that hay wettened when the decision was taken on the provision of vouchers. This was a penalisation which should not have taken place. Reference was made to a few years ago when a £300 interest free loan, which was paid back by people in part of the area, was made available. I am throwing that out as a suggestion, although the amount of money would of course have to be upped considerably because of the intervening years. We had, as the lady representative on the committee said, a nine month winter and consequently we had serious problems as a result.
One of the problems that surfaced was that big quantity offers might be available. Again, the ordinary small individual farmer is not thinking in those kind of terms and he has not got the money to purchase. Suggestions were made of a once-off headage covering the whole area not merely the disadvantaged part of the area which covers only 10 per cent of the animals. I am just calling the Minister's attention to the suggestion. Out of fodder at present but unfortunately out of money. Hence, the invitation to the financial institutions to come to that meeting.
It seems that the Government, the co-ops and the financial institutions should have an input into this. As I mentioned sheep in passing, I must mention the suckler herd as well lest we forget that we were concentrating on dairying. There is a section of the suckler herd industry in the area and, of course, they have to be fed also. There is no fodder for them. One scientific point I want to make here is that some of the carcases at the factories which were discovered to be in reasonably good condition were fed meal but because there was no rumination and because they did not want the fibre those cattle died. In other words, the diet was not balanced in a way which would keep the animals alive. Of course, we are and have been—we are making up for it a bit—short of housing in the area. As a result of this if cattle are let out with the condition land is in they will trample the grass into the ground and nothing will grow when growth comes.
There is no use bellyaching without having practical suggestions. What we are suggesting is a subsidy for fodder silage grain—in other words, cheaper money. The Government and the EC, as it is a crisis, might be brought in on this problem. I had the privilege of putting to the financial institutions that they, in fact, should also bear some of the cost by a reduction in interest. For the most part the profits of the banking institutions are good. This is a time of crisis and they should be prepared to help their customers at this particular time. In fairness to them, and unlike a few years ago, their individual statements to the meeting were more than satisfactory. They said to come in and talk to them and they would deal with individual cases. They could not say anything else. They all repeated that, so I knew that that was an important proposal from their point of view. They seemed to be more amenable to the suggestions which were made and more anxious to please their customers because, as the individuals from the banks, said: "Dead cows are no good to the farmer and they are no good to the banks either". This is a matter of some urgency.
We will also have people who will be reluctant to deal with the banks, not because of a lack of sophistication but because of fear, a fear which was instilled into them maybe previous to 1973 but certainly subsequent to 1973 because of what went wrong when loans taken out at a low rate of interest shot up to 20 per cent and swamped some of them, to my own knowledge. Suggestions were made for a restoration of the calf subsidy so that money would be available for the purchase of fodder silage grain in the circumstance. It is not so long ago since the subsidy was at about £22 to £23. That is another possibility.
The co-ops have been taking action in the area. There has been a sourcing of fodder and silage. Going to the meeting I thought that it was dealing with what was a country wide situation but I discovered that the co-ops, Macra, the IFA and the Irish Countrywomen's Association, which were represented at the meeting, had sourced supplies in various places, in particular in Wexford, west Waterford, Kilkenny-Carlow, that particular area.
One of the problem that surfaced in regard to that area was the question of transport. It takes a fairly good team to load a 40 foot trailer with bales, a job which takes a few hours. It is a long journey from Wexford to the Cavan-Monaghan area. I was pleased to know that fodder is available. It is on that basis that I am appealing for help from the Government. If the Government would consider giving assistance per livestock unit it would be the best solution. Information and statistics on the numbers of animals in the area are available in the Department of Agriculture. One point that was made by a representative of a co-operative was that sometimes when a co-operative society is in the market the price goes up. This is natural. The co-ops then have to charge the farmers. We want to have a reasonably priced product. Some co-ops increased the price per gallon of milk that they were paying to their customers in order to tide them over so that they could purchase fodder if it became available. The problem was getting the fodder into the area.
Last week a person phoned me who thought that I had silage for sale. He said it was advertised on the radio. I informed him that I did not have silage for sale. I had six such calls in half an hour until I got in touch with the radio station. I am giving that instance to show how desperate people are to get food for their animals. The figures quoted for a bale of hay were in the region of £1.50, £1.80, £2.10, £2.20 and £2.50. There was also mention of 440 tonnes of silage available at £10,000. I am asking the Minister to come up with some emergency help to provide fodder before it is too late. It is not a matter of getting a package together over a week, two weeks or three weeks. It is a question of helping the farmers to get the feedstuffs into the area as quickly as possible so that the animals will not die. Even if the weather improves the problem will not be solved. It will continue into 1987 if it is not dealt with properly and herds will be allowed to die. It has been suggested that the rescue package or the interest subsidy scheme should be extended. I am making a cry from the heart for help for an area which needs it badly at the moment.
(Limerick West): I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this debate because a serious situation has arisen where cattle are dying, particularly in the area outlined by Deputy Wilson and in the west. They are dying through lack of fodder and the poor quality of fodder as a result of last year's disastrous summer. The problem is far worse than many people realise. I hope the Minister and his officials realise the seriousness of the situation. At present there is a disastrous problem looming on the individual holdings of farmers. I will be calling for an emergency debate in this House on the matter and I hope that the Government will give time for a full scale debate on it. Some farmers have a very serious problem with regard to fodder. In a reply which I put to the Minister for Agriculture last week I was told that they should consult their agricultural advisers. Of course they should but the matter is a lot more serious than that. Advice will not feed hungry cattle. The Government should introduce a scheme such as was introduced last summer. Maybe it was introduced too late but better late than never. They should take fast and effective action.
I am putting forward some proposals and I hope that the Minister will come up with some positive proposals also. The Minister should introduce some type of voucher scheme as was outlined by Deputy Wilson. Failing that, he should bring in some type of scheme whereby farmers would get a certain amount per head of cattle, particularly in the disaster areas. An alternative is that the headage grants be paid in advance. Government action is required at once because days and even hours count. We all know, as Deputy Wilson pointed out, that there is fodder available in certain parts of the country. It is a matter of getting the fodder from that part of the country to the areas where it is needed and the question is will the farmers who need the fodder be in a position to pay for it? There are four or five choices which the Minister can take up. I hope he will get clearance immediately from the EC Commission to make those payments. I hope that some solution will be found to this problem.
Last Wednesday I raised a Private Notice Question on this matter and was told that it was not a matter of urgency. I then raised the matter on the Adjournment. It was accepted but we had not time to discuss it because of the two votes that evening. This indicates that there should be a reexamination of the system whereby we raise matters such as this.
This is a very serious problem. There has been no growth of grass so far. This year, land is waterlogged and cattle are hungry in many of the Connacht-Ulster counties. Last week I spoke to a man who has cattle housed for nine months. He has 35 cows and has spent an additional £3,000 on straw and silage as well as compound feed for the animals. That man will not make a profit this year. Much of the stock are in poor condition and if they are not tended to over the next couple of weeks there could be many more cattle deaths.
In my county a committee was set up to deal with this problem. I was a member of that committee and we did valuable work in conjunction with ACOT, the IFA, the lending institutions and the co-operatives. A substantial amount of feedstuffs were brought into the area and the lending institutions provided the money. All concerned co-operated to ensure that there was no hardship. However, we have now come to the crunch. On the committee to which I have referred, an all-important consideration was the breeding stock. We were most concerned regarding the retention of the breeding stock, especially the suckling herd. If something is not done to rectify the problem in the next week or so, there will be serious repercussions in the years to come.
It has been suggested that the headage payments might be brought forward. A sum of £27 million was not taken up in respect of agriculture in 1985 and that money could be used to help in the present situation. At the end of April in any year the co-ops are stretched to the limit. I was a member of a co-op and I know the efforts made to work within a budget in normal years when money was more readily available and when interest charges were not so high. Now the co-operatives are unable to provide more cash.
Another suggestion has been to have some kind of subsidy. During the past winter I made the point that there should be some kind of discretionary fund operated by ACOT, the co-operatives, and the FDS to deal with cases of hardship. If that were done cattle could be saved. I hope the Department will look at the matter urgently and consider having an interest-free loan over two or three years for people who have grave problems.
A special meeting was called last Wednesday of the Sligo County Committee of Agriculture and they sent a telegram to the Minister expressing the need for urgent action. Viewers of the RTE News last Thursday saw reports on the number of cattle dying in County Leitrim. A neighbour of mine lost nine cattle. If the people concerned produce the cards relating to the dead cattle, the Government should compensate them for that loss. Any small farmer who loses nine cattle will suffer a loss of profits for a few years.
The people concerned need help urgently. As Deputy Wilson pointed out, fodder is available in other parts of the country but not in the west. Any driver on the road from Sligo to Dublin will see lorryloads of hay and straw on the way to feed hungry cattle. Some farmers have adequate feedstuffs but this does not apply to all farmers. We had a particularly bad summer last year and the quality of the feed harvested suffered as a result.
I accept that the late growth of grass this spring on top of the effects of the prolonged bad weather last summer is causing problems for many livestock farmers particularly in the north western counties. The House will be aware of the various measures adopted by the Government such as the winter fodder scheme, the Shannon valley flood scheme, the feed voucher scheme and the provision of an additional 125,000 tonnes of grain. This was a generous response to the problems that existed and was successful in containing them. Farmers were also encouraged at the time to consult with their ACOT advisers about a feeding plan for their stock over the winter and spring months and many who followed this advice will now be in a position to carry stock in reasonable condition.
There is no shortage of cereals and cereal based feeds which farmers should be using to supplement fodder supplies. There are reasonable quantities of hay available also but, as in last autumn, much of these are not located in the areas in which they are most needed. Many of the animals need mineral supplement in addition to hand-feeding particularly in areas where the fodder is below standard in quality. I strongly recommend that all farmers with problems in relation to the feeding of their livestock should consult with their local ACOT advisers as to the most appropriate action they should take. Where animals are weak or debilitated veterinary advice should be taken. If the co-operatives were to find where hay and straw are available, there should not be a major problem in getting them to the areas concerned.
Cattle deaths have doubled and even trebled in a number of western counties this year. This is a reflection of the scarcity and poor quality of fodder arising from the poor weather last summer and autumn and the shortage of cash for the purchase of meals. The areas worst affected are in the north west, Leitrim, north Longford, north Sligo, Cavan and west Donegal. Losses will continue for a few weeks because when pregnant animals are seriously affected with starvation and especially when they become recumbent there is little chance of recovery.
Other areas seriously affected are north Cork, west Limerick and south west Kerry in the south west and north Roscommon, north and west Mayo and west Galway. More cows are being sold than normal and there is a big increase in the numbers of dead animals. Farmer indebtedness has also increased and fertiliser sales have dropped.
The farmers most affected are those normally relying on hay and who were unable to make adequate provision for winter feed in 1985. The better farmers, especially those who had turned to silage, are less adversely affected. It should be noted that, although losses have doubled or trebled in some regions, the figures for previous years on which these increases were based were small. There are individual cases where losses were very high. The losses which have occurred, however, reflect a rather serious situation on many farms. Because of the serious shortage of fodder, expenditure on meals has been higher than usual even on farms which did not suffer stock losses. This situation has been aggravated by the late spring. In these circumstances many farmers are short of ready cash for the purchase of fertilisers and so on. At the moment the Government are considering a proposal from the Minister for Agriculture to make advance payments on the beef cow scheme and an announcement will be made on that matter as quickly as possible. There are some technical matters to be overcome.
There is nothing for dairy cows.
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 April 1986.