Shannon bales out farmers

THERE have been many exhortations for Clare to support Shannon Airport, but the tables have been turned over the last week, with the airport giving support to struggling farmers across the Banner.

 

Terrible weather conditions have brought about a severe fodder crisis in the county but it was expected that around 1,600 bales of silage cut at the airport would have been harvested by midweek.

The airport took the decision to bring forward its scheduled cut from 2015 after Clare IFA approached management on Thursday last, with the request to help local farmers. Less than 24 hours later, contractors rolled into the airport to begin harvesting and work continued right up until 10pm on Sunday night, by which time 1,200 bales had been distributed right around the county.

Farmers accessing the bales are being charged €12.50 per unit, way below the current market price.
On Monday, the Clare branch of the IFA made another request, asking that another 80+ acres of land be made available for cutting on Wednesday morning, bringing to almost 400 acres the amount of grassland that was made available for harvesting.

Andrew Dundas, Clare IFA chairman, said many people would benefit from the decision to bring forward the cut, although the level of demand is massive. “You’re talking about a couple of days’ supply for the farmers that got it, about 400 farmers.”

He said Kerry Co-op and some of the county’s agri suppliers transported bales for free last Saturday and Sunday, while the €12.50 price gives farmers a huge discount. “ It’s very hard to get silage delivered for under €38 a bale. It’s a huge saving.”

Mr Dundas said he hadn’t fully appreciated the ferocious level of demand for fodder. “On Friday morning, I thought we’d be giving a bigger amount to a smaller number of farmers and that farmers might be wrapping it and it might do them over 10 or 12 days but such was the demand that we couldn’t do that. We had to spread it further and just give everybody a couple of bales.”

His phone was ringing on a near constant basis, with farmers trying to get the fodder. “When people saw or heard that there was going to be grass cut in Shannon, it was unbelievable. I took in excess of 100 calls on Friday.”

Shannon Airport director Mary Considine said the airport was pleased to be able to help out. “We weren’t due to have the grass cut until 2015 but farmers are in a desperate state due to the fodder shortage and we were delighted to do our bit to support them.”

Clare TDs Pat Breen and Joe Carey paid tribute to the management and staff of Shannon for showing solidarity with the farming community.

Deputy Carey said he spoke to chairperson of the Shannon Airport Authority, Rose Hynes and the contractor involved. “All the agencies that worked together on this project to help farmers should be congratulated. I want in particular to thank Rose Hynes, chairperson of the new independent Shannon Airport Authority and also the chairman of Clare IFA Andrew Dundas.”

Party colleague Pat Breen said the lack of growth is hitting farmers hard.

“The strong solidarity which exists between our local communities and Shannon Airport came to the fore again last week when the airport rallied to the aid of struggling farmers by bringing forward grass cutting on its 300-acre site. Over 1,000 bales were distributed throughout the county last weekend and the airport has come up trumps again by facilitating the cutting of a further 80 acres to help local farmers.”