Dairygold has confirmed that it has organised for the importation of over 2,500 tonnes of fodder (haylage and hay) from the UK, with the first loads due to arrive in Ireland today, Thursday.
The Society said that the imported fodder was essential to alleviate the current shortage of fodder for Irish farmers, who are struggling with a long winter followed by an unseasonably cold and wet spring which has significantly delayed grass growth. Additional shipments are due daily right through the weekend and into next week. Dairygold had already been working with members over the last 10 days to source fodder from locations around Ireland until it wasn’t possible to source adequate supplies within Ireland. The situation became more acute over the Easter weekend when an emergency contingency plan was put in place. The fodder will be distributed to Dairygold farmers via the branch network across the Munster catchment region.
Dairygold Chairman John O’Gorman explained: “There has been a definite tight-ening of fodder stocks, especially in the last week. The heavy rain across the country over the Easter weekend compounded an already bad situation on the ground for dairy farmers following one of the worst winters on record. Instead of having ani-mals out on grass, our members are still dealing with housed animals and all the feeding require-ments that involves.”
The Irish dairy sector last experienced a fodder crisis five years ago, in April 2013, when Dairygold imported over 10,000 tonnes of fodder from the UK and France to alleviate a critical shortage on members’ farms.