Bray People

Farmers feel the heat as lack of rain having serious impact

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WHILE many of us are rejoicing in the sunny weather, for the farming community across Wicklow matters are not so clear cut.

Following the devastatin­g fodder crisis experience­d earlier this year following the cold snap, farmers are now facing difficulty once again as a result of the high temperatur­es and exceedingl­y dry conditions.

According to Wicklow IFA chairman Chris Hill, the county, like the rest of the country, is facing a severe moisture deficit and rain is desperatel­y needed in many areas.

‘ There has been only a negligible amount of localised rain since the beginning of May, so we are facing a moisture deficit. We have gone from a feast to a famine in terms of rain. A few months ago we were up to our knees in snow and muck and we didn’t know how things would go. Now we are crying out for some rain,’ he said.

Mr Hill added that the next week or so will be an important tipping point in terms of whether crops and grass will survive the dry spell.

‘It is very much a matter of wait and see over the next week which will be a tipping point one way of the other. If the rain doesn’t come, that will tell the grass to stop growing. If it goes white, it is dormant and would take a lot of rain and up to six weeks to recover. That had a knock-on effect for later in the year. We are already past midsummer’s day so time is not on our side,’ he said.

He said that while there small amounts of rain experience­d in upland areas, it was not enough to stave off a water crisis.

‘Some other counties experience­d more rain than Wicklow but they are in exactly the same position as Wicklow farmers now, so it did not make any difference. There are undoubtedl­y farmers buying concentrat­ed feed again this week as there is no grazing,’ he added.

Mr Hill noted that in Sweden, where the climate is similar to Ireland with wet winters but with drier summers, farmers are also at crisis point and have already decided to schedule the disposal of livestock to ensure an orderly reduction of stock and to prevent a ‘rush to the slaughter house’.

Meanwhile, in West Wicklow, Cllr Jim Ruttle, agreed that he and fellow farmers in the area were finding the weather difficult to deal with and that unless the rain comes, there could be serious trouble ahead.

‘As they say, make hay when the sun shines, but the time for growing is May and June but we haven’t had that. We effectivel­y went from Winter to Summer with no Spring. The yield of hay is lower and the we are also facing water shortages if the rain doesn’t come. My own well is holding out so far, but this weather is like that of 1995 when Ireland was warmer than Crete. If the rain comes within the next week or so, we might just about get out of it, but it really all we can do is wait and see,’ he said.

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