Weather threatens western harvest

THE deluges of July and the August storms have put grain farmers in the West under serious pressure to get their Spring crops harvested.

By last Friday, the IFA estimated that over 50% of the Spring grain crops were yet to be harvested – the situation was helped by a ‘run’ of reasonably dry days from Saturday through to Tuesday.

“The big problem has been ground conditions. Land is very soft and with the big proportion of the crops this year sown in Spring, conditions have been very difficult for grain farmers,” said Galway IFA Grain Representative John Daly.

With the remnants of Storm Laura bringing very heavy rain across the West of Ireland on Wednesday, it will take another couple of days for the ground to dry out – the good news, however, is that a fairly dry and settled weekend seems to be in store.  An estimated 10,000 acres of grain are grown in Co. Galway and this year most of the crops were sown in Spring due to the very wet conditions experienced last Winter.

“I suppose 2020 has been a real struggle for grain farmers, and like everyone else, it’s a year we won’t be sorry to see the back off. We could do with a fine week to finish off this year’s harvest,” said John Daly.

Meanwhile, IFA President, Tim Cullinan, has called on the Dept. of Agriculture to carry out an immediate assessment of the damage that has been done due to the adverse weather conditions.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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