Fodder crisis is food for thought
IRISH farmers are in the midst of a fodder crisis and in the last week we have seen the Irish Government step in and import over €1.5 million of fodder to assist in the ongoing crisis.
For townie’s like myself who know very little about the agricultural sector it is story that could be easily overlooked.
Yet there are a couple of points to this issue which give pause for thought.
This is not the first time in recent years that we have heard of this problem, there was a similar crisis in 2013 and farms in the west had similar shortages last year. It begs the question is anything being done to address this problem.
Is this year’s problem simply down to our dreadful wet winter, with the 2017/2018 winter seemingly endless, as the cold and wet days continue well into April. It has been six months of dreadful weather.
The farmer can do very little about the weather but are we looking at the weather patterns and climate change.
The winter storms of the last couple of years have been stronger and more frequent and we have been told by Met Eireann that we are to expect more wet winters in the years ahead.
Are farmers being encouraged to adapt to the changing climate, are we going to have to change the way in which we farm. Since the abolition of milk quotas in 2015 the numbers of dairy and beef has increased by over 300,000, but can we meet the demands brought about by this intensive farming.
The structure of the sector seems lob-sided as today’s 7.3 million beef and dairy cattle are placing almost intolerable strain on Ireland’s biodiversity, water safety and air quality, while contributing massively towards the very climate change that is now affecting the sector.
The Environment Protection Agency’s 2016 report found that Ireland’s levels of ammonia and nitrogen-oxides were now, for the first time, in breach of EU emissions levels. Some 99 per cent of ammonia emissions arise from fertilisers and animal manures. The EPA added that this would ‘cause damage to air quality and health’.
We like to think of the image of our green fields full of grass-fed beef cattle, yet our beef and dairy system has been found to produce the most carbon emissions per euro of food output in the entire EU
Of course, food security is vital and we need to safeguard that, but farmers already receive substantial supports through CAP and schemes such as REPS, while
Ireland has the least amount of farm land in the EU engaged in organic agriculture at just 1.6 per cent and has the second lowest area of land producing vegetables in the EU.
Our beef and dairy system was found to produce the most carbon emissions per euro of food output in the entire EU28, while UN data shows that Ireland is in fact a net importer of food calories, importing the calorie equivalent of food for 1.4 million people.
All of this suggests that everything is not rosey in the garden and serious issues need to addressed by the farming community with Government needing to take a firmer hand in securing Ireland’s sustainable food security.