The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has welcomed the announcement of a silage support scheme but said that more measures are needed to help farmers with increased input costs.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is to bring a memo on the proposed measure to the Cabinet meeting taking place later today (Tuesday, May 3).

The scheme comes in response to rising fertiliser, feed and energy costs which have been exasperated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Concerns have been raised about a possible fodder shortage later in the year following a Teagasc survey in mid-April which found that 49% of drystock farmers had yet to spread chemical nitrogen (N).

Although no budget for the silage support scheme has yet been finalised, it is expected that it could be worth up to €55 million.

If Cabinet approval is given to the package it would see farmers rewarded with a €100/ha payment for all silage cut up to 10ha.

It means that farmers would be eligible to receive up to €1,000 each, with that payment to be made later in the year.

Reacting to the announcement of the scheme, IFA president Tim Cullinan said that it was important that Minister McConalogue had come forward with a scheme to support farmers.

However, he noted that "much more will be needed to cover the massive increase in costs of production".

“The Minister must move quickly to announce the details and get the scheme up and running. The way input costs are going, more support will be needed.

“There are real food security concerns emerging from global agencies and it’s important that Irish farmers are helped and supported to produce food,” the IFA president concluded.