Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan said that Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue must move quickly to announce the details and get the silage support scheme up and running.

"We are already behind time in encouraging farmers to maximise grass growth,” Cullinan said.

It was announced on Tuesday that farmers could be paid €100/ha to grow silage in a package which is being brought to cabinet this Tuesday.

Cullinan said that the way input costs are going, more support will be needed.

"It was important that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue had come forward with a scheme to support farmers, but more will be needed to cover the massive increase in costs of production," he said.

Cullinan argued how rocketing input costs are putting huge pressure on farmers.

"There are real food security concerns emerging from global agencies and it’s important that Irish farmers are helped and supported to produce food,” he said.

Feeding for six to seven cows

The silage support package will allow for the feeding of six to seven suckler cows over a five-month wintering period, according to Macra.

Macra president John Keane based the remark off Teagasc analysis, which he said shows that 1t of CAN contains 270kg of nitrogen and that at peak grass growth, the response to chemical nitrogen applied is that 1kg of nitrogen can grow up to 50kg of grass dry matter.

He said: “1t of CAN nitrogen could therefore grow 13,500kg of grass dry matter or 13.5t of dry matter.

"With a suckler cow eating approximately 13kg dry matter silage per day, this package will support the feeding of six to seven suckler cows over a five-month wintering period."

Keane acknowledged the €55m package from Minister McConalogue as the “first step” in supporting livestock farmers.

However, he said “much more is going to be needed in order to ensure fodder security and indeed food security for next autumn and winter”.

The Macra president called for “clarity on the detail of the package and the requirements of farmers to access the support”.

“With cashflow a continued issue for smaller farmers, this package needs to be available quickly to provide direct support,” he said.

€4/bale

The support announced will work out at €4/bale, whereas the increased costs of making silage now comes to €12/bale, according to Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) president Vincent Roddy.

He added that a look at the overall budget and payment rates for farmers is needed from Minister McConalogue, with particular emphasis on sheep and suckler farmers.

“In the last year, we have seen the price of fertiliser triple, plastic wrap increase by 50% and diesel prices double, all of which will increase the cost of any silage made this summer,” he added.

When working through the costs, Roddy argued that on a grass crop that produces 10 bales of silage/acre, the cost of making a bale of silage could be as high as €30.

This, as he mentioned above, would be an increase of €12 a bale on previous years and for farmers who are renting land, the cost will be even higher.

In conclusion, the INHFA leader encouraged the Minister to look again at the payment rates and budget and stressed the need for the proposed scheme “to be simple and effective in its administration”.