Ireland-Scandal at Department of Agriculture.

IRELAND-SCANDALS AT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The financial scandals just go on and on and the fall-out grows daily. In farming, for the Department of Agriculture to arbitrarily declare that the Farm Waste Management Scheme (FWMS) grants will be paid in three stages over three years beggars belief.

These grants will act as a lifesaver for family farms in many instances. It is no exaggeration to say that farmers who receive the grants will be able to fill cattle sheds, while many who are just part-paid may be forced to leave units empty and idle.

All work carried out under the FWMS was done as a regulatory requirement. As farmers, we have to comply with not only the Department of Agriculture guidelines but also with those of the Department of the Environment and the EU. Regulations are demanding more and more of us all the time. And, yes, financial help in the form of grants was offered but now this is only of limited value. Farmers have spent a great deal of money in an effort to comply with regulations and are now hugely indebted to the banks but are now left in a very difficult situation.

A rule for one must be a rule for all and be seen as such. We all know that the country is in financial crisis. We all know, too, that we must make sacrifices and cut our cloth to meet its measure. However, those in power in banking who would seem to have caused this crisis are laughing at us all. They walk away with multiples of six-figure sums as a golden handshake, despite their guilt in money mismanagement, while the rest of us pay the price. Now you might say that the grants owing to farmers come from taxpayers’ money, but so are these golden handshakes to all these executive bankers. And never forget that farmers are taxpayers too.

What is more, if farmers were paid their grants in one lump sum, the monies concerned would act as bank re-capitalisation in part. But it seems that the Government doesn’t think like this. It’s a case of giving the banks the money necessary to keep them afloat and allowing those resigning their positions under questionable circumstances to have their golden handshakes, as per normal, while the rest of us suffer the consequences. It’s no wonder money has disappeared into a great black hole.

Well now I’ve had my little rant, I will return to farming matters. It’s a long time since I calved a cow but I must say that I was delighted to be at this job last weekend. I just called down to the yard to have a chat with Alan, who was on duty at the time, only to find him just starting to deal with a heifer who had only one foot showing. On further examination the head was also well back. Anyway we both attended to the problem. The heifer was really quiet and stood patiently and a few minutes later she delivered a lovely Angus heifer calf. Happily, both mother and daughter were well despite the trauma of delivery.

Another light on the horizon last week was the arrival of the spring weather. Grass is showing signs of growth and we are all uplifted as a result of milder and longer days. It is time to start thinking about allowing the cows outdoors to graze for a few hours during the day.

Monday, February 16 arrived and the sun was shining and the cows had been looking longingly out across the field from their shed for the previous few days. Land had dried up sufficiently so the lads decided to allow the early autumn calvers out. These cows are categorised on this farm as those who have calved between September and December.

They had already been segregated to one side of the cubicle shed and these are the cows who tend to go a bit stale after a long period indoors. They had been indoors by night since last September, after all, and by day since early October such was the inclemency of our weather conditions at the time.

Anyway, they enjoy being outdoors for the few hours each day. The first turnout was marked as usual by an enthusiastic gallop over the farm roadway when most of their energy was expended before arriving at the paddock. Some, of course, took a race through the fresh grass but all were eating and indeed lying down within minutes. It is only day three outdoors as I write, so it is too early yet to determine if we have a yield increase as a result.

These days the lads are just finishing slurry spreading on all the silage ground and are now ready to start on the maize area. It is time too to begin applying urea. On the home farm all the silage area and that grazing area which stretches two weeks ahead of the cows will now receive three quarters of a bag of urea/ac on this first round.

Laurence has his cows outside for a few hours daily and this year he is planning to follow all the Teagasc guidelines on grass growing and grazing.

He plans to measure grass in the paddocks after each grazing and work towards producing milk as cheaply as possible.