The on-going fodder crisis in Galway is an “emergency situation” with “fodder reserves are rapidly running out”, leading a Galway East TD to demand the Government “urgently” introduce “measures to alleviate the growing pressure” on farmers.
Fianna Fáil Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte is calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, to extend plans to deal with this crisis which go beyond the introduction of a transport subsidy, which she said “is just one element of the emergency response required”.
Dep Rabbitte says the fodder shortage is due to the “an unusually long and cold winter”, and farmers not having funds available to them to meet the cost of buying in additional fodder to feed their stock. She points out how Galway has the largest suckler cow herd in the State. As a result, the “very serious” fodder shortage is “causing huge stress” for farmers and their families.
She is calling for the introduction of a fodder voucher scheme, so farmers can receive financial support to buy fodder; subsidising the importation of additional fodder; and for the Department of Agriculture to “examine the possibility of paying out Glás payments sooner rather than later”.
