Tag Archives: fodder

AS the impact of Storm Emma continues this week, one farm leader has condemned the national subsidised fodder transport scheme as a “shambles”. Former regional Teagasc advisor, Brendan Henaghan, has also warned that there may not be a plentiful supply of grass on some Clare farms until early May. IFA president Joe Healy has called on the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, to look at the implications of Storm Emma, which looks set to create a major fodder crisis. “Grass growth is at zero in March. Grass is saturated and will rot with any hard frost. We will not see good growth for a few weeks. “The bad weather has put back growth by about a month. It will be at least two weeks before land is dry again and then the cold weather will add to the fodder crisis,” Mr Healy said. He described the introduction of the transport scheme as a “gesture” to tackle the fodder shortage, but …

A FODDER census survey has shown that farmers have enough silage and hay for a 140 day feeding period this winter. The survey of 1,240 farmers showed that there is an overall average surplus of 8% across the country. The survey was carried out in the week commencing September 1 by Teagasc and other organisations participating in the Inter Agency Fodder Committee. While overall the survey indicates that there are adequate fodder stocks in the country, it found that one in five farmers had a deficit. On the farms with a deficit, this shortage is 19% on average. The survey showed that 22% of farmers intend to sell some livestock to balance their feed budget this autumn Chairman of the inter-agency fodder committee, Dr Tom Kelly of Teagasc said that through the commercial market place, farmers are redistributing the fodder to where the livestock are, and redistributing the livestock to where the fodder is. He said that with prudent management …