Professor Gerry Boyle:

I thank the Vice Chairman and the committee for the invitation. We have circulated a document to the committee to which I will refer. I am happy to report that I have up-to-date data this morning on grass growth. It is good to be able to say that grass is growing well after what we all know was a very late start. There was a substantial drop in grass production from mid-March to mid-April but there has been a recovery since then and the weekend just gone has helped tremendously. As of this morning, we are looking at growth rates ranging from 50 kg to more than 60 kg per hectare per day. That is in line with what has been the normal situation for this time of the year. There are still some parts of the country where ground is very wet. As the committee knows, the dominant characteristic of the past winter rolling into recent months has been the persistent rainfall. In many areas, this has been the case since last September. Only very recently have ground temperatures risen. That is what has given rise to the growth.

I thought I should inform the committee of the responses and actions taken by Teagasc over recent months. We have had an internal standing committee in place since about September of last year working on the issues that were emerging around the country, particularly in the north west initially but subsequently extending to other regions. We think a number of the actions we took will stand should a similar situation arise in the future. One development that was quite successful was the establishment of a fodder register in all 12 Teagasc regions. That enabled us to identify regularly the number of farmers who were in need of fodder and the number registered with us who had fodder to offer. Of course, other organisations such as ICOS and the co-ops and indeed the private sector had similar arrangements in place. In the very early stages of the crisis, we also set up a 24-7 helpline manned by Teagasc staff on a consistent basis.

We focused on putting out key technical messages twice a week during the height of the crisis. We held almost 90 clinics at our 52 offices and these were attended by nearly 700 farmers. We had a major campaign of radio advertisements on all local radio stations during the peak of the crisis. This proved to be a very effective way to communicate. Of course, we worked closely with co-operatives, farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We engaged actively through our discussion group network and in the provision of one-to-one consultations. One statistic indicates the importance of phone consultations in particular. This was a very sensitive issue for many farmers and it continues to be for some. As such, we had approximately 12,000 phone consultations over recent weeks. More than 8,000 farmers in total were dealt with by way of group contact.

The focus now is very much on the future. I want to talk a little about our advice on the replenishment of forage stocks, which is a critical issue for the next winter. I want also to discuss the importance of us addressing the risk of fodder crises in future. The most important message on the replenishment of stocks is the need for farmers to put a plan in place. It has been a very difficult situation and it appears easy to talk about planning when one is in the middle of a shortage. However, it is essential. My colleague, Dr. Siobhán Kavanagh, is the expert in this area and she will elaborate on the most important advice for farmers, which is that they must create a fodder budget to establish their needs. This has proved critical, in particular in situations of deficit. We recommend, of course, that having created a budget, farmers should maximise the production of fodder inside the farm gate. We are looking very closely at options for the purchase and contract growing of feed. This presents an opportunity for some farmers to engage in the provision of fodder supplies on a contract basis. It will be very important for farmers to assess stock numbers constantly relative to projected available forage.

As regards risk management, our focus is on the adaptation strategies farmers can adopt. We cannot overemphasise the importance of conducting winter feed budgets. We have a variety of tools available for farmers to use themselves or in consultation with their advisers. It is very important for farmers to plan. We have had some discussions about what might constitute a normal winter, but it is most important to plan for an adequate reserve of fodder. We recommend eight weeks' reserve as a requirement. These are not new messages, but they are often pushed to the back burner. If there is no pressure in a particular year, some farmers may take their eye off the ball, as we all can in similar situations. It is very important to match grass growing capacity with stocking rates. We want to address the importance of utilising the grass resource in the best possible manner and that, of course, requires farmers to examine their grazing infrastructure and ensure it is fit for purpose. We continue to stress, year in and year out, the critical importance of getting soil fertility right. There has been significant slippage throughout the country in this regard in recent years. The importance of good soil fertility cannot be overemphasised. We are looking at the option for many farmers, especially the larger dairy farmers, to engage in contract arrangements, as I mentioned, for the growing of fodder. Indeed, we are looking at any arrangement to minimise the number of animals that have to be fed on the home farm, including contract rearing of heifers. It is also important for farmers to examine housing and feeding facilities. Where farmers must go out on the land, they should pay attention to the type of machinery used to minimise the impact on soil conditions.

We are very happy to answer any questions the Chairman and his colleagues may have. We are probably in a better position now than we were a number of years ago in terms of our capacity to respond to crises. We have PastureBase Ireland in place. This is a national database which allows us to update growing conditions throughout the country systematically. That can only improve. We have also brought forward a very effective grass prediction exercise for the week ahead. We encourage as many farmers as possible to participate in what we call PastureBase Ireland so that they can have that information ready to hand.