Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ongoing bad weather has created huge problems for farmers this spring, with fields too wet for planting or taking livestock.

Many farmers face fodder shortages because animals have been in sheds for too long. They cannot access grass in the fields because of wet ground conditions. Tillage farmers cannot get onto their land to plant their crops. My neighbours' fields are still empty. They cannot put the cattle out, and cattle would always have been out by April.

According to Met Éireann, 2023 was the third wettest year on record, going back to 1940. At this stage, 2024 seems to be on a similar path. The seemingly non-stop rainfall and shocking ground conditions are severely hampering farm operations and adding hugely to costs and stress levels for farmers. Farmers always put a buffer in their supplies which normally gets them through an early autumn or bad spring. However, we got both, which is highly unusual, and surplus supplies are running out fast. After almost a year of above-average rainfall, farmers need support to alleviate the extreme burden they face.

The Minister has no control over the weather but he has control over the response to such challenging conditions. This situation is affecting farmers across the board. It is not confined to one sector so a comprehensive response is needed. Farming organisations have been calling on the Government to put supports in place for months. The Irish Farmers' Association, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association and Irish Grain Growers have all advised it is an extremely stressful time, both mentally and physically, for farmers. They are losing money and need supports put in place now. Farmers are having to buy in extra fodder, if they can afford it. In many cases, they cannot.

To date the Government has adopted a wait-and-see approach. Some supports such as the fodder transport scheme and the deferral of farm inspections have been announced and are welcome but they have been piecemeal. The Minister introduced €100 per hectare for the tillage sector. I am not sure that will be enough. The sector has made clear its huge difficulty in getting spring crops sown as a result of soil conditions, while many winter crops will have to be re-sown. Figures for autumn planting show 80,000 acres fewer than normal were sown. In spring, less than 5% of crops have gone into the ground so far.

The Government response to the acute financial pressure farmers are under has been muted and unimaginative to date. The Minister and Government have waited as long as possible to announce supports, months after farmers and organisations sounded alarm bells. The approaching fodder shortage was well flagged by Sinn Féin. My colleague, Deputy Kerrane, called on the Minister to outline a response to a possible fodder shortage in January. Farmers have been raising concerns about fodder and silage supplies for months.

Mercifully, there has been a recent positive turn in the weather which may allow spring activities to commence or resume. However, this good weather could be short-lived and it is not acceptable for the Government to hold out and keep farmers waiting for supports they badly need. The Government should have responded months ago but did not.

The increase in the price of fuel is also having an impact on farmers. I call on the Government not to introduce any more rises this year and to review it at the end of the year. I spoke to an intensive pig farmer who had so much slurry he had to have six lorry loads of it transported this week from Cavan to another county. I think it was over the far side of Roscommon. That is partly the nitrates but partly the weather. It is causing him an awful lot of financial hardship. We need to look at alternatives to using slurry. There are alternatives but plans need to be put in place because we could be facing continual weather changes like this whereby the weather becomes wetter and it becomes very hard to spread slurry.

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