Farmers must wait for thaw to reveal extent of losses
SHEEP farmers are only now able to count the cost of last weekend’s snowfall as they search for animals that might have perished in deep snowdrifts high up on the hills of West Kerry.
The heavy snow that accompanied Storm Emma came at a reasonably fortunate time of year for farmers who had already taken sheep down from the hills for the lambing season. However, many farmers still had animals on exposed higher ground and, despite the early forecasts of incoming snow, they didn’t have time to complete the arduous task of rounding up sheep from the hills.
It is expected that some of those animals will have died after getting stuck in deep snowdrifts that accumulated on the hillsides but only the continuing thaw will reveal the extent of the loss.
Sheep farmer Mick O’Sullivan from Rinn Bhuí near Lios Póil told The Kerryman he had, as always, taken his sheep down from the hills on the first days of March. This saved them from the snow that covered the Stricín in a thick blanket and they were able to lamb safely indoors. However, he said at the weekend that some other sheep farmers faced an anxious wait before the melting snow would reveal the extent of their losses.