Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this matter. He is absolutely right; it has been a really stressful time for farmers throughout the country. It has been an unprecedentedly long winter in many ways, with animals being housed, in many cases, from last September up to today. That is the guts of a seven-month winter and puts massive pressure on farmers. Dairy farmers are going out to milk every morning and are still not able to get the cows out to grass. That means pressure. Other farmers are calving cows and lambing sheep with the weather beating down on top of them while they are perhaps trying to find a sick animal and having to deal with all that on their own. Tillage farmers are listening to the rain beating down when they are waiting to get out to plough or till and there is stress that comes along with that. Farming can be solitary and lonely these days and it is important that people support one another in a neighbourly way through that in any way they can and that they reach out. It is important that people talk and share the challenges and stresses around this.

Of course, it is really important that we at Government level recognise the pressure farmers are under and move in any way we can to support them to go through that. It is something I have been very much conscious of. I have been trying to work to prevent a situation where we are short of fodder by ensuring we are prepared in advance as best we can be.To help with that, I established the fodder and food security committee in March 2022 and gave it the remit of preparing an industry response to the supply challenges resulting from the illegal invasion of Ukraine. I recognise the work of Mike Magan as chairman of that committee. The committee has been meeting and working closely with all agricultural stakeholders and farm organisations on the committee and with Teagasc under the leadership of Frank O'Mara. It has had meetings over the course of the autumn and into the winter. It had a meeting on 29 March and, very recently, on 9 April. The committee has concluded that, notwithstanding the difficulties being experienced by some farmers, there are, overall, sufficient stocks of fodder in the country and available to purchase.

With ground conditions being particularly challenging, there is grass in the fields, but until they dry up, farmers are struggling to use it. Teagasc is giving advice on how it can be best utilised in the meantime.

I have tasked Teagasc with helping and providing support to farmers who are short of fodder to get supply locally, if at all possible. It has set up a register and, so far, there have been twice as many offers of fodder as people asking for it. That is encouraging and reflects the fodder committee's feeling there is enough fodder in the country. It is important that support continues.

I ran a fodder scheme least year where I paid up to €1,000 per farm to make up to 25 acres of silage or hay to make sure we had enough stock in the country and were as prepared as possible for a long winter. Farmers responded well to that and 67,000 farmers applied for the scheme. Farmers worked hard and made a lot of fodder. That has been important in ensuring through this long winter there are stocks in the country and, unlike 2013 and 2018, we do not have to import.

There may be a shortage in some parts of the country. I put in place last week a transport subsidy scheme of €30 per round bale or €40 per tonne of silage to help farmers with transport where necessary. However, the first preference is to get it locally.

The tillage sector is under particular pressure. At the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis last weekend, I announced my commitment to delivering €100 per hectare for all farmers who put seed in the ground for this year's crop, either winter cereals or looking at planting now if the weather improves. That is a commitment of €100 per hectare for all tillage ground and all field crops and field vegetables, which I will find the money for. I give that commitment to tillage farmers so they know what is facing them and have confidence, in a difficult year, to plant and get the crop in the ground.