Extension needed to deadline for cutting in Fodder Support Scheme
Press Release: Tuesday 23 August 2022
Macra na Feirme national president John Keane is calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to extend the closing date for the cutting and conservation of silage and or hay under the National Fodder Support Scheme.
The closing date under the scheme for cutting and conservation is the 5th of September but given the recent dry weather, Mr Keane said many farmers have had to graze paddocks and fields previously intended for silage or hay.
The Macra president said “flexibility is needed around this, many farmers on all soil types across the country have soil moisture deficits on farm and have found it difficult to secure enough winter feed ahead of the closing date of the 5th of September.”
Met Eireann have stated that ‘currently, all soils are quite dry across the country with soil moisture deficits (SMDs) ranging from around 25 mm along the west coast up to 70 mm in parts of the south and southeast’.
“An extension is needed until the last week of September to allow farmers who have applied for the scheme to cut and conserve winter feed. Growth rates across the country have been below average for a number of weeks now and it makes sense to extend the closing date to help farmers dealing with the increasing costs of conserving winter feed”, Keane concluded.