The fodder crisis facing farmers in the east of the country after the dry summer could be mitigated somewhat by hauling feed from the western half of the country, farm leaders have said. However, they said the logistical move to transport fodder from the west, where the summer was less dry, to the east, would require Government support. The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association, Denis Drennan, criticised what he said was a Government “wait-and-see attitude” to the impact of the drought in the east, which has severely curtailed growth. He said the fodder situation is already “screamingly obvious” and drew attention to a recent survey by agribusiness Tirlán. Tirlán operates a large-scale milk-processing and grain-gathering co-operative network across the eastern, southern and midland regions.About half of the milk suppliers, comprising thousands of individual farmers, who took part in the recent Tirlán Fodder Update Survey considered themselves concerned or underprovided with fodder for the winter. Speaking after a meeting of farm leaders to discuss the potential crisis, Drennan said the analysis of the Tirlán survey “is just frightening ... we have to proceed on the basis that this is already a crisis and not one that’s developing or has the potential to become a crisis”.Drennan said farmers in the northwest and along the western seaboard had fodder to sell, “but would require a degree of certainty around supports to make it possible to transport to the worst affected areas”.On Friday IFA president Francie Gorman drew attention to a further survey by farm advisory body Teagasc, which showed 39 per cent of farmers across the country estimate they are facing a fodder shortage of 10 per cent or more in advance of the coming winter.[ Farmers accuse Heydon of failing to grasp severity of droughtOpens in new window ] Gorman said this “confirms our fears as to the size of the fodder challenge facing us” and that there is “also a huge cash flow crisis” looming on many farms.Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association president Sean McNamara warned farmers were “already using their winter fodder, and that is going to leave a bigger problem if we do not get enough growth in the coming weeks before the winter sets in”.He said arrangements are needed to get fodder and grain from areas where it is available to farms that need it.“Looking further ahead, we have to start planning now for the spring and the pressure that will come if winter fodder supplies have been depleted.”Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said any financial interventions or supports for farmers affected by the fodder shortage would be considered in the context of the upcoming budget, after comprehensive data from Teagasc was available. He moved to reassure farmers that the Government would not “be found wanting” in supporting those facing hardship.