RTÉ News has confirmed that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConlogue is preparing a multi million euro package of supports to ensure farmers can grow enough animal feed and fodder this year.
The package which will be finalised before the end of the month will give supports to farmers to address increased costs they face as they ensure they have enough feed for animals this year.
This multi-million euro support package comes a day after the establishment of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee at a meeting of farm organisations with Minister Charlie McConlogue.
Following discussion at the Government meeting today where he relayed farmers concerns to Cabinet, the minister is now formulating a multi million euro package of supports to ensure farmers can grow enough feed and fodder.
The supports will help with increased costs growing fodder and tillage crops, supports for planting such crops and other measures to assist in accessing organic fertilisers.
The package is due to be finalised and brought to Cabinet before the end of the month.
Bakers warn of price rise as Ukraine bans grain exports
Bakers are warning that price rises are on the way, as the bulk of baking flour used here is imported.
It comes after Ukraine announced a ban on grain exports, which is set to exacerbate disruption in food markets.
From today, Ukraine has paused exports of barley, rye, wheat and other grains with Serbia also banning exports of wheat, corn, flour and cooking oil as of tomorrow.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is threatening to have serious impacts on food and agriculture globally, with prices set to rise and possible food shortages.
The President of Odlums said it is inevitable that the price of bread will go up over the coming months and the bakery sector is fighting for survival.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Tony Kane said the sector had been hit with a triple whammy of price increases in flour, ingredients, freight, and packaging.
"It's all coming into a tsunami for price price increases on flour and bread and the Irish market".
Mr Kane said the Irish Bakery Association met last week to discuss the costs and challenges facing the industry.
He said that Irish wheat, and therefore flour, is not really suitable for the production of the common loaf and 91% of flour is imported from central Europe.
Mr Kane said the Government provided bread subsidies in the 1960s and 1970s and it may be worth examining a initiative like this again.
He appealed to the Government to support the bakery industry and add bakers to the list of approved trades for work permits.
They need immediate action on that, he said, adding that this might enable some Ukrainian people to work when they arrive.
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'We're facing into a very difficult set of circumstances'
A professor of Agriculture and Food economics has said that the crisis in Ukraine is rapidly developing into an "unprecedented risk to global food security".
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One programme, UCD professor Michael Wallace said that while Irish stores were unlikely to see shortages on the shelves, the disruption still represented a "severe threat" to Irish food supply chains.
"This humanitarian catastrophe that were witnessing in Ukraine is rapidly developing into an unprecedented risk to global food security.
"I think the new committee [on Fodder and Food Security] is an essential effort on our own part to look at strategies to address the risks we’re exposed to in Ireland. I think in Europe generally we have awakened to a weakness in our food systems around their resilience to geopolitical shocks of a type that we would have previously considered totally unthinkable.
"Its about how we address those vulnerabilities - particularly through our reliance on Russia for critical resources - but in the food sector particularly around our reliance on their supplies of fertiliser. In Ireland we get a quarter of our synthetic fertilisers essential for crops and grassland imported from Russia," he said.
Prof Wallace said that price increases may become more evident with bread and breakfast cereals.
He added that there would be greater price inflation too in meat and dairy products to reflect the "dramatic increase" in production costs.
Prof Wallace said Ukraine’s exports of wheat are a huge supplier to not just Europe, but to Africa and further afield, adding that it represents a huge vulnerability for country’s reliant on it.
"We’re staring into a particularly serious and worrying issue for the developing world."
Farmers urged to make preparations
A committee on food security will be established following of a meeting yesterday between the Department of Agriculture, farming representatives and the Minister for Agriculture.
Discussions were held to examine options to deal with the impact of the Ukraine war on food, fuel and fertiliser prices.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said that there is "an onus on each farm" to make preparations for the year ahead and to consider growing grain to address potential grain shortages.
He said that given the fact that 60% of grain is imported, there will likely be a disturbance to the supply chain due to the Ukraine crisis.
When asked if he was asking dairy farmers to sow crops, he said that farmers should consider that option.
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr McConalogue said: "There is going to be an onus on each farm, business, themselves to assess the next year in terms of making preparations for the year ahead."
The minister said that farmers should consider planting some grain this year "and they should look at that and consider their options".
Growing enough grass to ensure sufficient fodder will also be important.
When asked if it was realistic to ask some dairy farmers to switch to tillage farming overnight, he said that "some would be able to" do this.
The minister said that financial support for farmers is being considered by the Government.
"I certainly will back our farmers fully, as will the Government, in relation to planning for that and addressing that and meeting the different needs," he added.
Global consequences after Ukraine ban
Dermot Walsh of Walsh's Bakehouse in Waterford city, a producer of the famous blaa bread roll, warned today that Ukraine's move will have consequences internationally.
"It's not going to be good," he told RTÉ News.
"Ukraine supplies 10% of the world wheat market. Most of that goes to North Africa and Asia and it doesn't directly affect European countries. However, the knock-on effect of that being withdrawn from that area puts pressure on the supply from Europe, therefore the costs increase."
If Ukrainian wheat does not go to its traditional markets in African and Asian countries, those countries will have to look elsewhere - such as other European countries - for their supply.
The international price of grain has more than doubled in cost since last July, he said, with the cost of a tonne of wheat up to €407, from €187 last summer.
"We have security of supply because most of our wheat comes from Europe. However, it's the volatility of the price."
With a near-70% increase in the price of grain in the last six months, there is no sign of that volatility easing, Mr Walsh said.
"That is not going to stop, that is going to continue again. Therefore, the food inflation that we've been seeing for the last three or four months is going to continue, whether we like it or not. It's just a fact of life at this stage."
While most wheat used by bakers in Ireland comes from the UK, France, Germany, and also Canada, the knock-on effect of wheat from Ukraine - and Russia - being gone from the international market will be significant. Meanwhile, Bulgaria have announced a stop on exports of wheat and Romania are talking about a similar move.
"I don't think we are at the end of this whole supply issue yet," Dermot Walsh said.
Additional reporting: Conor Kane
