Poor weather leaves farmers facing 'a near total wipeout'

With no let up in the relentless rainfall predicted for at least another week, many local farmers are facing what has been described as “a near total wipeout”.

Westmeath IFA Chair, Richard O'Brien, admitted this week that the situation locally is “very grim” while Michael Silke, who farms along the Shannon Callows says many farmers are facing “a near total wipeout” for the remainder of the year.

“The weather is an issue for farmers everywhere,” said IFA Chair, Richard O'Brien “and many farming families are under severe financial strain at the moment as they are being forced to buy more fodder because they cannot let their animals out into the saturated fields”.

He pointed out that, due to the extremely wet weather conditions last year, there was already a shortage of fodder, and the current wet weather spell has “only added to the problems” being experienced by farmers in sourcing fodder.

With most of the tillage farmers in Westmeath being based in the north of the county, Richard O'Brien said farmers have been unable to access their lands to prepare the ground for crop planting, and are “way behind schedule” at this stage. “I grow corn myself at home, and at the moment I am two to three weeks behind, and that seems to be the situation everywhere,” he added.

Meanwhile, Michael Silke, who farms on the Offaly/Galway border at Meelick, predicted that many farmer are facing “a near total wipeout” for the rest of this year due to the unprecedented rainfall. His farm is located along the Shannow Callows, which takes in many part of east Galway and Offaly and stretches all the way to Athlone, and he says farmers in this region are “still grappling” with last year's record rainfall levels, and are finding it “very difficult to cope”.

He says local farmers were “hoping against hope” that the worst of the rainfall was over, but as they head into another week of wet weather warnings it has now become “an absolute disaster”.

Mr Silke said he would normally have his animals out on grass by St Patrick's Day, and would have all his fertiliser spread by March 17 also. Instead, he is still faced with buying fodder for his housed animals and says there is “no way any fertiliser could be spread” on his lands which he says are “completely saturated”.

A member of the the lobby group Save Our Shannon Organisations (SOSO), he said the group “put a lot of effort into getting compensation” for farmers along the Shannon Callows area, but said the package they were offered by the Department was “very piecemeal” and did not go far enough to address the severe hardships being faced by farmers in the Callows.

In the wake of calls from IFA President, Francie Gorman, this week for support for farming families, AIB has acknowledged the hardships facing farmers as a result of the prolonged spell of bad weather, and has urged them to contact their local branch to access a range of cashflow supports.

Meanwhile, Tírlán, one of the country’s largest co-ops announced a €30 million weather support scheme for dairy farmers on Monday.

The IFA President said farmers are under “huge pressure” at the moment, and have had “a horrendous time” since last autumn when they incurred big losses in the last harvest. “Government intervention is critical and it cannot be delayed” he said, while IFA Deputy President, Alice Doyle, also called on banking institutions to “apply leniency” for farmers Deputy Barry Cowen, FF candidate in the Midlands North West European constituency, is urging flexibility for farmers who are struggling amid severe weather, including fast-tracking any payments.