Martin Kenny
Ceist:39. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans for a fodder aid package to farmers affected by extreme weather conditions over the past two months. [47189/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 8 November 2017
Ceisteanna (39)
Freagraí ó Béal (8 píosaí cainte)
This is the same question I put to the Minister on the previous occasion we had questions in the House. A fodder crisis is developing and has already developed in the north west and along the western seaboard. Deputy Scanlon has tabled a similar question to mine on this. The one thing we would like to get from the Minister today is his agreement that there is a crisis and that something must be done about it. Perhaps we could get that much at least. Farmers are in a terrible situation. Last weekend, I saw farmers trying to make silage in pools of water in my part of the country. That is happening throughout the country. The fodder they are producing will be of extremely poor quality, and if they have to buy fodder, the prices will be through the roof. Farmers are selling their cattle rather than face a winter crisis without fodder. The Minister must step up to the mark and try to do something about it.
My Department has been closely monitoring weather conditions, grass growth and feed supplies. It is clear that the weather conditions over recent weeks have been challenging, and this has created difficulties for farmers in parts of the country, particularly in the western regions.
Grass growth rates through September and October were ahead of recent years. Data from Pasturebase Ireland indicate that production is running about 1 tonne dry matter per hectare ahead of last year. Notwithstanding this, grazing conditions deteriorated from mid-August on farms with heavier land. This has given farmers a number of challenging weeks managing livestock, with animals having to be temporarily housed and difficulties with securing later cut silage. I note that there appear to be reasonable supplies of feed and fodder available across the country for those farmers who may have to supplement their own fodder supply. Given these challenges, I have asked Teagasc to work locally in areas with fodder difficulties so as to support good budgeting of fodder supplies on farms for the winter ahead.
The European Commission agreed to my request for an advance payment of the 2017 basic payment scheme, BPS. This has been prompted by the protracted inclement weather conditions and also market difficulties caused by currency fluctuations. This means an increase from 50% to 70% in the advance payment rate for the BPS to those applicants whose applications were confirmed fully clear. These payments were recently issued and balancing payments will be made with effect from 1 December. There will also be an increase permitted to the advance for Pillar 2 rural development schemes such as GLAS. These payments and the payments under the areas of natural constraints scheme are injecting up to €800 million into the rural economy and will provide a very welcome boost for Irish farm families.
Taking account of this, there are no plans at this time to establish a fodder aid scheme. My Department will continue to monitor the situation closely.
The telling statement from the Minister is that there are no plans at present. I hope that means he is monitoring the situation closely and that something will be done. The vast majority of farmers in the north west, who are mainly suckler farmers, are already experiencing an income crisis. They are getting such a poor price for their product that they find themselves under huge pressure. Now they are facing a fodder crisis. Every week the marts in the north west are full of cows being sold by farmers because they are facing a winter in which they will not have any fodder for their cattle. We are facing a real crisis. It is a crisis for the industry. If there is no supply of weanlings next spring because farmers are not producing them, that will produce a further crisis down the road.
It is a matter of a stitch in time saving nine. We must intervene in time and recognise that there is a crisis, and that the Government has a responsibility to do something about it.
I appreciate that there are farmers getting various aid packages and schemes such as GLAS, to which they are entitled for the work they do under the agreements that they have signed up for. This is different. It is something that has arisen due to the inclement weather conditions. We are not talking about spending a fortune but a relatively small sum of money targeted in the right place, but it must be done through a scheme in order that farmers can have confidence and in order that they will not go the market and sell their cattle but will keep them in the knowledge that there is a backup.
I fully acknowledge the Deputy's points. Even in my own constituency on the heavier ground, I know underfoot grazing conditions have deteriorated and that although there is still substantial grass cover because of the mild wet weather, it is not suitable for letting cattle out on. In parts of the country, cattle have been kept inside for a protracted period.
I have asked Teagasc to monitor closely the situation on the ground through its network of advisers. We estimate that there is sufficient fodder across the country-----
It is too expensive.
-----but it may be that in some areas there is a deficit and in others there is a surplus. We will monitor the situation. We do not envisage that the crisis is on the scale that the Deputy has spoken about. In individual cases where there may be welfare issues arising because of fodder, there is a contact point in the Department for this and the Department may step in to assist individual farmers. At an overall level, it is not currently at a magnitude that we believe merits the kind of scheme that the Deputy spoke of, but we will keep it under constant observation.
It always seems to be the case that the main point is missed out. We know it is being monitored by Teagasc people on the ground, and in fairness, they are advising farmers and working alongside them and doing their best. What is needed is an acknowledgement that something should be put in place to reassure farmers and inform them that they have an option for the future and that something will be done if this crisis deteriorates further.
Last week, I spoke to a farmer who had made a cut of silage in mid-June. Half of that silage is now gone and he never managed a second cut. That is a problem for many farmers in the north west. They cannot get out on the land. The Minister talks about the grass growing, but while the grass can grow through the roof, the cattle cannot walk on the land. It is that simple. It is too wet. The farmers need to be reassured that the Minister will put a scheme in place that will be there for them, and telling them that it will be done one by one does not give them that reassurance. The doubt is in their mind that it will not work out. They may think that cattle are a bad price, and if they are still a bad price next spring it would be as well to sell the whole lot now. Then we will be in a situation where there is a scarcity of weanlings and that will have an effect on the beef sector. It is a matter of stepping in on time and doing the right thing.
The last thing we want to see is farmers selling the seed potato or the suckler cow. We do not want to see that. If there is a message that both I and the Deputy wish to send to farmers now, it is that they should engage with their advisory service to help them budget through with whatever feed they have and any supplement that might be needed. Teagasc, the State's advisory service, will keep my Department informed on the scale of the problem and whether it requires a scaling-up of the response beyond what we are now discussing. I am satisfied that there is sufficient fodder in the country, though there may be regional imbalances. It is unlike previous years where fodder was required and the State stepped in and imported it from the UK. I do not see that as being the case but it must be constantly monitored.