Farmers have to sell off stock they can’t feed profitably...

The Tánaiste remarked that the Irish grass growth curve — on which most of our farming sector depends — has been dramatically thrown way off course compared to a normal grazing season.

He said farmers must plan for their particular situations, focusing on animal welfare in terms of shelter, water and supplementing grass feed with concentrates and silage where required, but also for the months and winter ahead, in terms of availability of silage.

He promised that Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will work with farmers.

It is a rarity for Ireland to have drought warnings, which are an unfortunate experience for many farmers in the countries not blessed with a temperate climate like ours.

And those farmers’ main defence mechanism is selling off stock that they cannot afford to feed profitably without grass.

For example, droughts in recent years in the US reduced their beef cattle population 6%, and it took eight years to recover fully.

Thankfully, Irish cattle farmers are somewhat better supported by the EU than are US cattle farmers.

But the Irish farmers are only drawing their breath after a recent winter-spring weather shock, and who knows when this drought will finish?

Meanwhile, Irish milk production is already behind 2017 levels, despite expanding herds, and shrinking every day the drought continues.

The message must be clear to the Government, to the processors of milk and beef, and to Irish retailers, that unless farmers are helped through this crisis, consequences could be felt all along the food chain for a few years, in the form of reduced food production and exports.