The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has called for a further meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee to be held on Friday 5 April as more unsettled weather is forecast.

ICMSA president Denis Drennan has said that this unsettled weather is set to run through next weekend and into the following week.

Some farmers, he added, are in a very difficult position and it is important that the Government and stakeholders prepare - or at least look at worst-case scenarios.

Panic

"[The] ICMSA believes that the fodder committee should reconvene immediately because while we don't want to panic anybody, we really have to guard against the kind of complacency that actually could cause problems.

"Farmers will have got the latest weather forecasts increasing their concerns - cows still can't be turned out, fertiliser cannot be spread and we're already getting worried about adequate fodder for next winter [and] what kind of quality that will be," Drennan said.

The ICMSA has called for the committee to take stock of the latest forecasts and estimations of fodder stocks so that farmers can update their plans and hear what kind of supports the Minister [for Agriculture] intends offering.

"If the officials arrive insisting that there's no money - as they did last week - then [the] ICMSA will want to hear in detail what funding sources they've looked at and who was approached. They needn't think they can wave us away that easily," Drennan concluded.