Updated 22/04/15
The very wet autumn/winter in 2012, which continued into early 2013, followed by the extreme snow storms of March 2013 and more wet weather meant livestock were indoors for much longer than usual and left many farmers feeling the crunch when it came to fodder. The UFU was quick to raise awareness of this serious situation and quickly arranged meetings with the Agriculture Minister and senior DARD officials. In May 2013, following this series of meetings and after much pressure from the UFU, the Minister announced that £1.3 million had been secured to help farmers facing this unprecedented fodder shortage. The Fodder Transport scheme saw 16,300 tonnes of fodder imported into Northern Ireland and approximately 1,300 farmers benefited from £1.32million NI Government funding.
