Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for briefing us on the fodder issue. The main point he mentioned is true - this is not a financial issue, it is about the lack of fodder. As others have already pointed out, it goes back to the bad weather last summer. In the coming months, for the first time ever, there will be no surplus fodder left in the country. In recent years, a certain number of farmers would always have silage, hay or straw left over, but for the first time ever that will not happen. It will therefore have a knock-on effect for a number of years. The newspapers usually carry notices of hay for sale but that will not happen any more.

Teagasc will have to become involved in management and planning for the coming years to try to alleviate the problem. It is a management issue from the farmers' point of view. For example, if a farmer is normally used to feeding 100 cattle for the winter, yet only has feeding for 70, he will have to sell off cattle in advance. There is no point in keeping 100 cattle if there is no feed for them, because somebody else may be able to feed them. That situation will have to be managed in a proper and efficient way in the coming period to alleviate the problem.

Deputy Ferris mentioned farmer exploitation and there are no better people to exploit one another than farmers. We all know that. One can see farmers around the country paying €300 an acre for conacre grass, which is madness. This has been going on for years but it has not changed and will not change. It is not a new phenomenon and we all know that.

Fertiliser is a big issue. As was mentioned earlier, fertiliser is normally spread at the end of January or in early February in the eastern part of the country in particular. However, it was done this year but with absolutely no effect.

It is going to have a knock-on effect, notwithstanding the fact that milk prices are reasonably strong at the moment. Our yields are down significantly due to the lack of grass, which means that while one is getting a better price, one does not have the same volume of production. That will also have a knock-on effect. There will be extra costs involved.

I welcome the fact that co-operatives are providing interest-free credit for fertilizer. Glanbia is providing interest-free credit between May and July. This will all depend on the weather. We need a good spell of decent, mild weather in the coming period. Unfortunately, the weekend is forecast to be bad, which will not help. If we do not get good weather and the opportunity to grow grass, we will be in serious trouble. Teagasc must play a significant role in planning for next winter and advise farmers about how to manage the feed stocks they may or may not have for next and the following year.