A meeting of the national fodder and food security committee will take place this Friday at 11am. This comes following the ongoing challenges around the persistence of wet weather, the continuing concern around the availability of fodder stocks at farm level and limited opportunity to advance any significant tillage fieldwork, committee chair Mike Magan said.

Calling the meeting earlier this week, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that it is important that it establishes the most up-to-date facts regarding the fodder and feed situation on farms and provides advice to assist farmers through this challenging period.

The minister added that recent poor weather conditions have affected grazing, with fodder challenges being felt more in certain areas.

“Grass growth over the winter period has yielded strong pasture covers on farms. However, difficult weather conditions are delaying or restricting turnout.

“The challenge is more pronounced in certain parts of the country, particularly where early grazing is a key management tool,” he said.

Co-ordinated response

IFA president Francie Gorman said a co-ordinated response is needed to support farmers through the prolonged weather difficulties.

“Farmers have grass in their fields, but they cannot access it because of the wet ground conditions. Tillage farmers cannot get on to their land to plant their crops,” he said.

“Everybody in the sector needs to pull together to alleviate the extreme pressures on farmers at the moment.

“The incessant rainfall and shocking ground conditions are adding hugely to costs and stress levels for farmers,” he said.