Dear donkeys are not just for Christmas!

The donkey has taken his rightful place in the community of animals and in the financial stakes in the agricultural system.  

The Christmas animal is now ranked at one agricultural unit – and units mean money.  Farmers need a certain amount of ‘units’ in line with the amount of land they own to qualify for payments such as the Disadvantaged Area Scheme. 

That can amount to €3,500 per year and if you do not have cattle then donkeys can fill the gap.  And the humble animal with his ears pointed towards the heavens is again appearing in numbers in many townlands in areas such as Connemara. 

A recent count showed that there were twenty donkeys in one townland where their population had once dwindled to nothing – all of them doing their duty in maintaining the agricultural population.  

Indeed, some people are running down the amount of cattle they own and replacing them with donkeys in areas such as Connemara where the Disadvantaged Area Payments are an important source of income. 

The donkey is also less costly to maintain given that he has little need for bucket feeding or extra fodder; he lives well on rough ground if there is a reasonable amount of grazing available. The donkey also wins out over ponies and horses in his new found place in the agricultural hierarchy. 

While a pony or horse has to foal once every two years to hold his status in the Disadvantaged Area Scheme or environmental farming schemes, the donkey does not have to foal at all to maintain his standing in the unit linked system; there is no penalty for not foaling once…or ever. 

The donkey also has the advantage of being rated at  a one unit status as soon as he/she is born. Even cows and bulls in the finest land in Ireland do not reach the full one unit status until they are two years old. 

However, the donkey and his unit come with some paperwork attached.  In order to get his unit into the system the donkey has to be examined by a vet and registered with the Irish Horse Board.  This process could cost anything between €80 and €100.  It’s a once-off expense as there is no yearly testing such as happens with cattle.  And you could have your donkeys for a lifetime.  Some donkeys live up to 40 years or more.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.