National Sheep Association: Snow-hit farmers face serious losses
The National Sheep Association has warned of serious lamb losses following the freak March blizzards and strong winds.
Farmers were struggling to reach and feed their livestock as the wintry blast eased slightly on Wednesday (27 March).
Many are facing significant losses of livestock, with reports of thousands of sheep and cattle buried under snow.
NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “It is turning out to be a very long winter, following such a bad summer and autumn. It’s pretty grim, to be honest.
“So far in the season, we have seen relatively small lamb losses due to the Schmallenberg virus, but the impact of liver fluke has been big on new fertility and now farmers are faced with this (snow drifts).
“It will not be a record-breaking season in terms of our lamb crop.”
Over the last few years, many sheep farmers had moved towards outdoor lambing systems, similar to sheep farms in New Zealand, and they were getting caught out.
“In some areas, farmers are lambing but with the snow drifts, the walls are not available for the sheep to shelter behind. In addition, there is not a blade of grass anywhere,” said Mr Stocker.
Anecdotally, the association has heard reports of significant losses. But it is too early to put a figure on the costs, it said.
“There are farmers struggling in the snow, but for others, the cold winds have been disastrous,” said Mr Stocker. “I have spoken to one farmer in the Cotswolds who has suffered serious lamb losses – 15 dead lambs overnight just in the wind chill.”
Farmers in Northern Ireland, north Wales, Shropshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and other northern regions in England, were struggling to get through the heavy snow to feed their livestock.
On the Isle of Man, The Manx National Farmers’ Union said thousands of sheep were still missing, buried under snow drifts 25ft deep.
Stock kept indoors had been crushed to death after roofs collapsed under the weight of snow.
Manx NFU general secretary Belinda Leach said: “One farmer has 1,000 in-lamb ewes covered 2,500 acres and found only 100, another who has 800 lambing ewes said 100 were left.”
In Derbyshire, Grant Hattle, group secretary in the Bakewell NFU Mutual office, said he was dealing with a number of snow-related claims. Some farmers are having huge difficulties getting to their livestock and getting silage to them is a challenge because the roads are blocked.
“On some farms, you cannot get around the buildings because there is 10-12ft of snow around them. One farmer, who has 200 ewes, cannot account for half his flock. The snow drifts are so deep, it’s difficult to locate animals unless you find them in an air hole.”
In Northern Ireland, reports suggest as many as 10,000 livestock are dead.
In Wales, sheep farmers were buying in extra feed to keep their stock alive while lambing was in full flow. NFU Cymru president Ed Bailey said: “Bad weather is causing alarmingly high losses in some of the worst affected areas.”
In Scotland, farmers were battling some of the worst March weather on record, especially in Dumfries and Galloway and parts of Argyll. Scottish rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead thanked members of the public for helping farmers on his Twitter account.
The Met Office has warned farmers that the cold snap was likely to last another fortnight, with a slow, gradual thaw.
Forecaster Charlie Powell said: “The Big Freeze will last over the Easter weekend and into next week – there will be no let up until the middle of April.”
But DEFRA said a temporary relaxation of drivers’ hours for animal feed deliveries to livestock on farms was unlikely to be extended beyond 11.59pm on Saturday (30 March). The derogation only applies to drivers distributing animal feed to mills and prepared feed to livestock farms.
The NSA urged farming businesses struggling in the cold snap to contact charitable organisations, such as the Addington Fund, for help.
Maurice Hankey, chief executive of Scottish farming charity RSABI, said: “We can provide help for farmers, whether they are in a financial crisis, or they just need someone to talk to.
“They can either fill in a form on our website, rsabi.org.uk, or contact Gatepost on 0300 11 4166.”