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The National Food Security and Fodder Resilience Committee needs to be reconvened to deal with the challenges faced by farmers around fodder security, Macra has said.
With challenging weather conditions continuing, Macra say that farmers need support and advice around immediate and future fodder decisions.
The organisation is calling for a committee meeting as soon as possible and has contacted the Minister for Agriculture on the issue.
“Farmers are facing difficult decisions in the coming days regarding fodder supplies, grassland management, future fodder stocks and cereal planting”, Macra president Elaine Houlihan said.
The committee was established in 2022 by the Department of Agriculture, and is responsible for ensuring the sector can respond effectively and rapidly to feed and fodder challenges.
Saturated land
Wet land has meant that almost all fieldwork in the sector is at a standstill, with farmers forced to keep their animals indoors.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal last week, Irish Farmers’ Association county chairs told of silage reserves being tested nationwide. Some farmers have been feeding silage since August, with stocks now running low. Many chairs warned of a fodder shortage in the near future if the wet weather continues into next week. Meath chair Dermot Ward said that he is already dealing with a number of farmers who have run out of fodder.
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