Farmers selling off shares to cover bills

FARMERS have been forced to sell shares and equities as a result of the crippling cost of the current fodder crisis.

Paul Dee of Redmayne Bentley Stockbrokers in Cork said there had been a 25-30pc increase in share sales among farmer clients this year, as investments were offloaded to pay farm bills.

“We first began to see a notable increase in calls coming in from farmers for whom we trade shares in February and March.

“These were not particularly large trades, but you would get the distinct impression that the money was required to pay bills as opposed to being part of a definite investment strategy,” Mr Dee said.

“Lads would ring up and sell a couple hundred shares in maybe Glanbia or Kerry Group. What was noticeable was that prior to this farmers in general were relaxed about when they got their money. That’s not the case now; now they want it as soon as possible,” he pointed out.

Unease

“I know from conversations I’ve had about the winter and the shortage of fodder that the shares are being sold to pay bills, and it is continuing. In percentage terms our trades for farmers are up 25-30pc,” Mr Dee added.

“We are also seeing a lot more enquires from farming clients who have shares with us, making sure that if they need to sell that we can do this at short notice. This is indicative of considerable unease amongst the farming community,” he explained.