Farmers are increasing meal storage capacity on farms as a result of longer lead-in times from merchants.

According to Dan Butler from Spirofeeds in Mallow, Co Cork, the demand for feed bins is much higher than it would normally be in the summer.

Demand

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“Our busy months would be September through to February. We’d turn over €120,000 a month. But I did that in July this year – never done before,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal, adding that he is on track to reach that again this month. He says the demand is across all farm types.

Increase in orders

Similarly, McAree Engineering in Monaghan said that while it would normally supply poultry houses with three or four bins per order, they’ve seen an increase in orders for single 20t bins.

“Throughout July, demand has been strong and now that we are in to August the phone has been hopping,” Peter Richardson of McAree said. “Normally the ploughing is when we see a lift in demand so it is a bit earlier this year.”

European issue

The poor grass growth this summer in Ireland has been replicated across Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, southern Sweden and the UK, according to a report prepared for the European Commission.

The Monitoring Agricultural Resources (MARS) team uses satellite technology to assess the productivity of pasture. Their report shows it is at its lowest since records began 20 years ago for those countries. Grass growth is also below average in northeastern France and central Czech Republic.

Seeking help

Farm organisations from the Baltic states and Nordic countries wrote a joint letter to the European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan seeking help and calling for it to “prepare for compensatory measures to ensure animal welfare and the livelihood of farmers”. They said it is the third year in a row with extreme weather conditions in the area and the farmers’ financial situation is at breaking point.