As unpredictable as ever, Irish weather continues to challenge farmers, with its impact on Irish agriculture becoming increasingly severe. The unusual weather pattern recently, with an extraordinary warm and dry June followed by an incessantly rainy July, has resulted in significant complications for farmers. Being unable to release their livestock due to ground saturation, livestock farmers are facing fodder shortages, while crop yields are suffering due to poor grass growth conditions.
Tillage farmers, like the McCormack family from Co Meath, have been farming since the 1960s when Eddie McCormack moved from Co Mayo to begin with a mere 23 acres. Nowadays, they manage 280 hectares (roughly 600 acres), some of the most fertile land in Ireland. They grow a range of crops including spinach, lettuce, and herbs at their farm just outside Dunsany, and serve many of the country’s renowned supermarket chains.
Current weather conditions have left farmers feeling anxious, with the wet weather bringing farming activities to a halt. The challenging weather conditions could not come at a worse time as St. Patrick’s Day signals the start of the sowing season. The lack of proper sowing has left the propagators, that supply the seedlings for farmers like Stephen McCormack— Eddie’s son, in a state of nervous anticipation.
The consequences become more tangible as millions of plants are set to be sent to horticulture growers in the forthcoming week, which will be wasted if not sown. Stephen affirmed his concern, admitting that a 100-strong workforce from Bulgaria expected the first greens crop starting April 15, but unfortunately, no seeds have been planted due to the unrelenting rains.
The lingering question here is the impact of the rainfall, which was 50% more than average last year making the fields saturated. Even if a dry spell barged in, it would take a couple of weeks to dry the soil sufficiently for sowing. Stephen articulated it best when he quipped “There’s no point sowing into muck. You won’t have a crop”.
The circumstances of current crop sowing in certain agricultural areas could be considered unfortunate. The soil is overly damp, meaning it has to be ploughed to rid it of this moisture. In an effort to drain the surplus of water, small excavation machines are being used in fields that are heavily waterlogged. Expecting the water to dissipate promptly would be unrealistic; it would need several days of dry weather to recede.
This delay could affect the period when local produce takes precedence in stores over imports from warmer, sunlit regions of Europe, specifically countries such as Italy and Spain. These countries likely encounter excessively hot and arid conditions during summer, which aren’t suitable for growing green vegetables. The beginning of June might be anticipated for the first harvest, speculates a certain farmer.
Michael Hennessy, who heads Teagasc’s crops knowledge department and boasts a 30-year career in agriculture, affirmed that the tillage farming community has been grappling with issues from as far back as last September. Harvest delays due to the marshy fields have severely impacted this line of farming.
Expressing his observation, Hennessy said it was possibly the worst he’d ever witnessed. Difficulty in sowing seeds, particularly barley, coupled with the issue of less than half the winter crops being planted and zero spring crops sown by the end of March, has heightened the severity of the situation. He went on to mention that there seemed to be no respite from this continuous pattern of problems.
The recommended sowing date for certain crops such as beans, winter wheat and oats are now in the past, threatening the chances of a healthy crop this season. Normally, at this point, 70 to 80 per cent of all tillage crops would typically be planted. However, this year diverges greatly from the norm. Hennessy stated with a certainty that as regards spring crops, virtually nothing has been achieved thus far, and this is no exaggeration.