Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the issues we generally come across when responding to the needs of farmers is the delay in appropriately addressing things as they happen. The particularly wet weather at the end of last year and to date in 2024 has extended the season in which farmers have had to keep their livestock housed and, as a result, has had a significant impact on feeding costs. Despite the signals that were apparent during the final quarter of last year and that continued through subsequent months, the Department of agriculture sat on its hands and adopted a wait-and-see approach. This approach has cost farmers money, and the consequences for them will be felt throughout the year. To begin with, the cost of additional fodder has been left to the farmers. There were also mixed messages. A few weeks ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, belatedly stated that a fodder support scheme was still on the table, yet we also had the Department saying that no financial assistance for buying fodder would be provided. The difficulties caused by the weather has cost farmers. In addition, they were given mixed messages, only to ultimately be let down on this front.

The financial issues are not just immediate. Many of them will be felt over a much longer period because farmers also have to deal with the fact that the weather has prevented them from putting calves and lambs out and has impacted on their ability to prepare their fields, some of which are showing the signs of being unable to take fertiliser. There will be consequences for their hope to get a decent amount of silage in. Farmers have had one eye on these additional costs and the other on the letters outlining their obligations to the banks.

The Department cannot wash its hands of this matter. The trouble that was brewing was evident at the end of last year. The alarm bells were sounded by farmers and farming organisations in clear terms and the evidence was there on the ground for all to see. July 2023 was the wettest July on record and there were two storms in August, more heavy rainfall events in late September, record rainfall in the South for October and above average rainfall in December, yet the Government’s wait-and-see approach delayed tailored action until the beginning of April. Sinn Féin was flagging concerns about the oncoming fodder crisis as far back as January, but it was only recently that the Government took any form of action in the form of the fodder transport scheme and halting non-essential farm inspections.

A key question must be asked about the timeliness of the Government’s response to farming concerns. A delayed response has one crucial result, that being, the financial consequence that will echo for farmers throughout the year. It is bad enough to see such a delay, which only results in additional costs for farmers, but it is also a major concern that the Government does not appear to be learning that weather conditions such as these are no longer the exception. This is the crux of the issue. That the Government has again held back on helping farmers this year is indicative of how it is not prepared to deal with the immediate crisis. Worryingly, the Government is unprepared for the changes in weather patterns that we are seeing and for the consequences those changes have for agriculture. The farming calendar regularly changes with those weather conditions.

In the immediate term, we need an assurance from the Government that flexibility will be provided around deadlines where possible. Farmers need an assurance that their payments and scheme participation will not be impacted by factors that are outside their control and have not been responded to appropriately by the Department. There is an onus on the Government to respond in an adequate and timely way. In the longer term, the Government needs to come up with measures that are designed to address the likelihood that such weather events will become more frequent and that problems like those we are discussing today will be repeated. Ad hoc responses that come after protracted delays are not the way forward. The Government needs to learn this and provide accordingly for our family farms.

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