5,000 lairage spaces for calves in Cherbourg by spring

While it is expected that there will be lairage capacity for up to 5,000 Irish dairy calves per sailing to Cherbourg by next Spring, farmers should still plan to have on-farm facilities in place to store calves for periods of up to 3 or 4 weeks in the highly likely event that bad weather curtails sailings, ICOS has said.

Last week, representatives from ICOS along with the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association

(ICMSA) and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) met lairage owners Robert Drique and Jean Luc Pignet in Cherbourg.

According to Ray Doyle, Livestock & Environment Executive of ICOS: “Mr. Pignet said his operation will increase lairage capacity by approximately 1,000 spaces to 2,500, while Mr. Drique already provides that capacity, hence the figure of 5,000 in overall lairage capacity per sailing.”

“Lairage for 5,000 calves is the equivalent of about 16 trucks per sailing in total, given Department of Agriculture provisions of 316 calves per truck in stocking density.

“However, there is clearly capacity between both Stena Line and Irish Ferries to carry far more vehicles and calves than that. Stena Line alone has capacity for 22 trucks or just over 6,900 calves per sailing, with three sailings a week. If that was the case, it’s the equivalent of well over 20,000 calves a week which would completely overload the system.

“The maximum number of calves travelling on the ferries last year from Ireland to Cherbourg was 12,000 per week. While that indicates significant leeway in lairage capacity, it is nevertheless essential that Irish exporters communicate well in advance with the lairage operators to identify whether or not that capacity is available before sailing.

“It’s equally important if an exporter cancels their sailing, that the lairage operator is also informed so that they can signal available capacity to other exporters. Last year the two lairage owners had difficulties with some Irish exporters not communicating with them in time.”

“The Department of Agriculture should supervise and regulate live exporters to ensure that bookings are in place at the lairages before the calves leave Ireland. This is essential given there are now over 300,000 animals a year overall being exported from Ireland and transport is clearly a major element of this process.”