Business boom for knackeries
THERE’S been a “huge rise” in the number of cattle and sheep being picked up by local dead animal collectors this year.
Jim Matthews’ knackery in Tubbercurry has seen business up by 25-30 per cent this year, mostly he believes, due to the poor weather and the fodder crisis.
“We’ve seen a big increase in the number of emaciated arrivals as well,” Jim told The Sligo Champion.
He said he’s heard anecdotal evidence from vets that “they’re seeing an awful lot of thin animals on farms” but he’s keen to stress this is in “no way the fault of farmers.”
“It’s been raining since last July. The scarcity of fodder and poor quality fodder since last year (are to blame),” he said.
“Last autumn was very, very wet. When you’re making silage you need good dry weather and the silage in turn is more nutritious,” he said.
Jim also said at this point in April, cows are at the tail end of calving. If cows are in poor condition, the calf will be taken out by c-section and the cow put down.
“The cattle are thinner this year than they were this time last year, purely due to the poor quality fodder and the weather.
“An animal is like a human, we all like to feel the sun on our backs,” he added.
Fergus Moran of Ballisodare Dead Animal Collection has seen an increase in the number of sheep dying all around Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal this year.
“Sheep are outdoors. There’s no cover and no sunshine. The minerals are not in the ground. The sheep are under pressure and it’s down to the weather, the shortage of fodder and the amount of fluke in them,” he told this newspaper.
He’s seen “a wee bit” of an increase in cattle but “not as much as sheep.” Farmers he’s met are “low.”
“There’s going to be less cattle in the country. The winters are just too long, from October to May - it’s a long time for cattle to be in. Farmers are facing savage bills,” said Fergus.
He feels the Department of Agriculture will have to introduce a subsidy for suckler cows “or there’s going to be a big decline in suckler herds. It’s just not paying.”