Local Westmeath county councillor John Dolan has welcomed the statement by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, that he recognises the financial pressures faced by farmers with the continuation of the bad weather.
“Minister Coveney has committed to meet with the banks to discuss the provision of short-term credit to enable farmers to buy the additional feed required to deal with the disastrous weather being experienced at the moment. There are some serious situations on some farms at the moment and I am very aware of the financial cost associated with the large volumes of additional feed which had to be bought since last summer,” said Cllr Dolan.
Cllr Dolan is now appealing to banks, co-ops, and feed merchants to be flexible at this difficult time.
“The vast majority of farmers will be able to pay their bills if given enough time to do so,” he explained.
“But at this time the feeding of their stock has to be a priority as well as the easing of the considerable stress which I have witnessed at farm level.”
The Fine Gael councillor believes this is a time for solidarity between the farming community.
Councillor Dolan, who is a farmer himself, advised anyone who is short of feed to seek help in sourcing feed.
“I know that both the farming organisations and Teagasc are doing their best to help farmers in difficulties, and I would advise anyone who is in difficulty to talk to either Teagasc or the farming organisations or if I can be of assistance just give a call; this is a time where all in the farming sector need to support one another,” he added.
