This article is from page 12 of the 2012-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
CLARE has officially suffered its wettest June since 1947, with farmers across the county facing major bills this winter as grass growth and fodder harvesting are both well behind normal.
According to new figures produced by Met Éireann, June 7 was the wettest June day recorded at Shannon Airport in 65 years.
These record rainfalls have been compounded by unusually low levels of sunshine in the county – which have been disturbing beach users and holiday makers, as well as the county’s farmers.
Indeed, according to the the Irish Meteorological Service, Shannon Airport recorded its dullest June since 1993, 19 years ago, with average temperature for the month also below normal. This is despite the average temperature for the month being higher in Clare, at 13.6 degrees, than anywhere else in the county.
This unseasonably wet June has created a situation where many Clare farmers have yet to harvest their first cut of silage. A number of dairy farmers in the county have been forced to return cattle to shed at night and supplement their feed in order to keep milk supply up.
“This is adding serious cost to Clare farmers. They are keeping them inside and there is a big extra cost on meal in order to keep cows milking. If you let cows back this time of the year it is impossible to get them back again,” said Martin McMahon, Clare President of the ICMSA.
“This is a disaster for farmers. The ground conditions are unbelievable we never saw land as wet before as we are seeing it now. The big problem is coming down the line. A lot of farmers need two week of good fine weather before some farmers in the county will be able to cut anything.
“They are in trouble now but that is going to put them in serious trouble this winter when they don’t have the feed to feed their cattle. There are some farmers who would normally do two cuts of silage and they haven’t even got their first cut in yet.
“Farmers don’t know whether to chance cutting the land or not. Farmers are getting desperate and taking chances and they are needing up with fodder down for maybe a week or more and that means that the quality in the fodder will not be there.
“There is going to be a big scarcity of fodder over the winter – and the quality is going to be very poor,” he said.