Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures that his Department is taking in conjunction with the relevant agencies to put adequate supports in place for the farming and livestock sector to ensure sufficient fodder supplies and prevent a fodder crisis in the coming winter months. [26521/22]

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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What strategies and policies has the Department put in place to avert a fodder crisis this winter?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Crowe for raising this issue. I also thank him for his advocacy in regard to the challenges facing farmers as a result of cost pressures, in particular his advocacy and representations on putting a scheme in place to support Clare farmers and farmers nationally in regard to growing fodder and preparing for the winter ahead.

As he will be aware, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I met with the main farm organisations and Teagasc on 8 March 2022 to discuss the impact of that illegal invasion on agriculture and supply chains. Following on from that meeting, I established the National Fodder and Food Security Committee and tasked it with preparing an industry response to the emerging crisis.

Following the first meeting of the committee, Teagasc issued advice to farmers on how to manage their farms during the current grass growing season, with a view to securing sufficient fodder for next winter. The committee, which encompasses all of the main farming organisations, has continued to monitor the situation, led by Professor Frank O'Mara and his team at Teagasc and under the chairmanship of Mark McGann. The advice it has given relates to applying sufficient fertiliser and how to minimise the cost impact while maximising grass output.

On 22 March, I announced a targeted intervention package, amounting to €12 million in funding, framed around three pillars to support Irish farming families. The tillage incentive scheme is a key anchor support mechanism of the package, delivering €400 per hectare for each additional hectare. The package also includes support for the sowing of multispecies sward and red clover silage. Subsequent to that, with the support of my Cabinet colleagues, I introduced a €1,000 support scheme for farmers to help to cover the cost of making silage or hay this year.

My key message to farmers is to make sure they maximise their capacity to grow grass and save silage and hay this year. Fortunately, it has been a good growing year so far. We must maximise that potential to ensure we are secure for next winter and spring. The €1,000 provision we are bringing to the table to support farmers in doing that came about in response to the representations from Deputy Cathal Crowe and many other Deputies. It is an important support. We must all work together to support our agrifood sector and farm families over the year ahead.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. The €55 million silage scheme he has introduced is a positive development that will put money back in the pockets of farmers. It is also good to see the establishment of the national fodder and food security committee. Year on year, the farming organisations have only been brought to the table at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a crisis is unfolding. That is not good enough. Research undertaken by University College Cork last winter suggests fodder crises may become an annual event. We need to factor that into our approach.

There are many variables that are putting huge pressures on farmers, including the cost of fertiliser. Figures released last week indicate that the purchase of fertiliser is already down by some 15% this year. The soils are warming up and the rain is falling but the ground is not fertilised. What I have seen increasingly in Clare and other counties in the west, where the land is heavy and it is wet for much of the year, is that farmers are bringing the cattle into the slatted shed later into October, or sometimes even in early November, and letting them out sooner the following year. The grass is not having a chance to grow. All of that, cumulatively, will have a huge impact when we get to the winter period and people are trying to hold on to bales.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise the efforts farmers are making and the response they are showing. Costs, including fertiliser costs, certainly have gone up and there are other challenges too. Farmers are recognising the absolute importance of growing grass. We also are seeing them take on board the advice from Teagasc in regard to the efficient use of organic manure. We have a lot of latent potential in this country in terms of how we use slurry. We are seeing a real step change this year in terms of its efficient use. It has never been more valuable and it should never be wasted. It must be used really efficiently and we are seeing progress in that regard.

The €1,000 provision will be an important scheme to support farmers. Again, my message to them is that it will be paid at the end of the year after the work is done. If farmers grow the silage and hay, they will be paid up to €1,000, at €100 per hectare. It is an important initiative. Given the challenges we have had over the past decade, with fodder shortages in two or three of those years, it is essential that we have all hands on deck. We need a wartime response over the coming months, because that is the extent of the challenge, to ensure we have the silage pits and hay barns full going into the winter ahead.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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While the national silage scheme is welcome, there is an elephant in the room in that dairy farmers have been omitted from it. They are again asking whether they will be considered for inclusion. We are heading into late May and the silage season is upon us. Dairy farmers will see their beef counterparts receiving €100 per hectare, up to a maximum of 10 ha. It is a positive intervention but there are many farmers losing out.

The multispecies sward initiative the Minister announced in March really did not have much of an impact in the west of Ireland. I do not know anyone in Clare who ploughed and put seeds into the ground. They are still dealing with the old meadow grass, which has its limitations. When I go home to Clare this evening, our cattle will be out on mountain commonage because we are trying to save what precious grass we have. We are hoping to get more meadows out this year than we typically would have done. The winters are getting longer, climate change definitely is upon us and the cost of all the variables, such as agrifuel and fertilisers, has gone up. We need to know today whether the Minister will consider bringing dairy farmers into the scheme. Its scope should be broadened and made more flexible as we head through the summer period.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I am glad Deputy Cathal Crowe showed up to ask this question because my Question No. 147 is similar. There is a convention whereby Departments group similar questions together, but that was not done in this instance. I hope it is not an attempt by the Minister's staff to avoid scrutiny of him.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Deputy McNamara should speak to the question.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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It would be unfortunate if that were the case.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I show up every day.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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However, if he did not - and some colleagues do not - then I would not be able to get to my feet to address the issue.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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It is important for me to say that.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I listened to what the Minister had to say. He has a lot of nice words about committees and discussions. In essence, however, what he is saying to farmers is, "Live, horse, and you will get grass". He talked about a wartime response. What he is doing is not a wartime response. There are people on committees discussing this problem who have got more, even if just a cup of tea, than farmers have got up to now to combat the crisis in fertiliser costs. Given that farmers are taking fertiliser on credit, that cost will inevitably be passed on to consumers next year. Food prices are going to rocket and we will see division between farmers who are passing on a legitimate cost - they have no alternative because the Government has not helped them - and consumers who are paying an awful lot more for food than they can afford.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I join colleagues in asking whether the Minister will consider including dairy farmers in the scheme to which he referred. Will he give us an idea as to what the subscription to the scheme will be or what the take-up is at the moment? Has he any estimate of how many applicants there will be?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. The Ministers of State, Deputy Heydon and Senator Hackett, and I have been very proactive as a team in working with the farming organisations to address the challenges that are there and to ensure we make the preparations now in order to be secure next April and May. I brought all the farmer representatives together immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, recognising the challenges that would arise from it and the need to act now. We must do the work in these coming months that will leave us secure next year.

Alongside that, I have put in place a number of schemes to support farmers in carrying out the work. We have given a clear commitment to farmers that they will get €1,000 towards the cost of making hay and silage this year. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked me about dairy farmers, a point that Deputy Stanton has raised with me previously. We gave their inclusion great and careful consideration and took on board the advice and evidence we were given. The assessment from Teagasc is that the activity on dairy farms is very strong and the farmers are making the silage as usual.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Has the Minister done anything about EU import tariffs?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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This time last year, the price of milk was 35 cent a litre.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Minister. We are over time.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Today, it is 50 cent a litre and the cost of production has gone up by an estimated 7 cent in the meantime. Therefore, the costs are being more than covered by the prices being made. Indeed, the estimate is that profitability will be very strong on dairy farms this year.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Minister.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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This particular issue is not about covering all sectors. It is about growing grass and making sure agriculture, as a sector, is secure. That is why we are targeting the available funding at the beef and sheep sectors, which, as the evidence is showing, need that support to generate the activity to make the whole sector secure.