The Irish Farmers’ Association has called for Government subsidies after this summer’s “unprecedented” heat has left the agricultural sector struggling with significant extra costs.
Provisional data suggests this July was the driest since 1900 and also the second hottest since 1900.
On The Claire Byrne Show, IFA President Francie Gorman said the extreme heat has hit farmers hard in their pockets.
“If you were asking me about this three weeks ago, our main concern would be about the tillage sector,” he said.
“But obviously, it's an evolving issue and certainly we're definitely in an era of different climate patterns.
“Definitely the last three weeks, we weren't quite expecting that we'd have the lack of rain that we have - it's probably unprecedented.”
Farmer in Ireland walking behind a herd of cows on a narrow country road on Valentia Island in County Kerry, Ireland. Picture by: Alamy.com.Mr Gorman called for the National Fodder and Food Security Committee to be convened in order to “get a handle on exactly what the situation is”.
“There certainly is fodder stocks in parts of the country and not in others,” he said.
“To see how we can incentivise and advise farmers to stretch the resources they have, to make sure that when we head into the winter, that we'll have adequate supplies.”
Mr Gorman explained that while livestock typically eat grass at this time of year, the heat means too much of that is poor quality.
As such, farmers are being forced to buy food for their animals at a time of the year when their costs are typically low.
“What we're having to do now is feed them with our winter fodder supplies,” he said.
“If you had a hundred dairy cows today, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the extra cost of feeding those cows per day on that farm would be €400 per day - so, it's a cost issue as well.
“At a time when milk prices are not where we'd like them, at a time where beef prices are not where we'd like them.
“And as I said earlier in the tillage sector, at a time when grain prices are at a level, that is going to see more farmers exiting the business, that's the impact that the weather has had.”
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Mr Gorman urged the Government to be “proactive” on the issue and compensate farmers for the extra financial costs they have incurred.
“The European Commission has put in place a fund of €540 million that can be co-funded to the maximum of 200% by our Government,” he suggested.
“Out of that €540 million, we would get €15 million; so, the Government would need to co-fund it, would need to find €30 million to be able to co-fund it to the maximum.
“We believe that that measure could be done based on last year's fertiliser usage and it would enhance cash flow on farms that will probably struggle to be able to purchase fertiliser or feed in this current environment.”
Main image: A man sunabthing with a tractor in the background. Picture by: Guy Bell/Alamy Live News.
