In a highly charged speech at Cappamore Show on Saturday 18 August, director of Teagasc Prof Gerry Boyle, strongly refuted accusations levelled at the agriculture industry that the recent fodder shortages were due to higher stocking rates.
“There’s been a lot of ill-informed criticism of the agricultural sector in terms of the alleged consequences of expansion,” Boyle said.
“One fact of misinformation needs to be nailed. We have fewer cattle now in the country – in fact, 400,000 fewer head of cattle today than we had in the mid to late 1990s. That’s a reality.
“A second reality is that we’re still not producing sufficient grass to our potential even in a normal year.”
Boyle urged farmers to complete fodder budgets as a first step in tackling fodder concerns. He said the second step was to address the issue of climate change.
“There is a medium-term challenge that we have to face now in the agriculture industry, which is climate change. The evidence is there now that the kind of weather events that we have experienced in the current year will be more frequent,” Boyle said.
He reported strong interest in the recently announced Fodder Incentive Scheme, and said that it might be the way forward for livestock or tillage farmers to make an additional income.
“There is a silver lining in the dark cloud. There is opportunity right now for lowly stocked farmers to produce fodder on a commercial basis, and I think as well as it paying for them to do that, they will also be helping their neighbour in the process.”
Read more
Fodder incentive scheme: what you need to know
Listen: "The looming fodder crisis could be a major stressor"
In a highly charged speech at Cappamore Show on Saturday 18 August, director of Teagasc Prof Gerry Boyle, strongly refuted accusations levelled at the agriculture industry that the recent fodder shortages were due to higher stocking rates.
“There’s been a lot of ill-informed criticism of the agricultural sector in terms of the alleged consequences of expansion,” Boyle said.
“One fact of misinformation needs to be nailed. We have fewer cattle now in the country – in fact, 400,000 fewer head of cattle today than we had in the mid to late 1990s. That’s a reality.
“A second reality is that we’re still not producing sufficient grass to our potential even in a normal year.”
Boyle urged farmers to complete fodder budgets as a first step in tackling fodder concerns. He said the second step was to address the issue of climate change.
“There is a medium-term challenge that we have to face now in the agriculture industry, which is climate change. The evidence is there now that the kind of weather events that we have experienced in the current year will be more frequent,” Boyle said.
He reported strong interest in the recently announced Fodder Incentive Scheme, and said that it might be the way forward for livestock or tillage farmers to make an additional income.
“There is a silver lining in the dark cloud. There is opportunity right now for lowly stocked farmers to produce fodder on a commercial basis, and I think as well as it paying for them to do that, they will also be helping their neighbour in the process.”
Read more
Fodder incentive scheme: what you need to know
Listen: "The looming fodder crisis could be a major stressor"
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