Uncut silage and full slurry tanks are putting farmers in the west and northwest under serious pressure.
There are 30 tanks waiting to be emptied
With cattle housed since early August in many cases and silage scarce.
“You wouldn’t go into fields with a quad now, it’s absolutely impossible to get into any field with heavy machinery,” Kevin Comiskey from Dromahair, Manorhamilton told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Farmers around here have cattle in for the last six weeks,” said the Leitrim suckler farmer. What you saw at the Ploughing last Wednesday, we’ve been dealing with on a daily basis in August and September. It’s ridiculous.”
Des McHugh added that second-cut silage made in recent times was of poor quality.
“A few people got in with balers last week, but the silage is very rough, it will have a very low feed value and require supplementary feeding, which adds cost and cuts our income,” he warned, adding that one neighbour had 10 acres of silage rotting on the ground.
Slurry storage is a critical issue for farmers in Newport, Co Mayo, according to drystock farmer Patrick Chambers.
“There are 30 tanks waiting to be emptied around here, with only two weeks to the closed period. We’ll have to get an extension. Even if conditions improved tomorrow, there is no way the contractors will get all that slurry out,” he warned.
He added that neighbours had silage rotting on the ground.
“It’s very serious, people are depressed,” continued Chambers. “I can see an awful exit of people out of sucklers.
"A lot of people have got out already, but I can see more getting out after this year.”
Further south, in Limerick, farmers on heavy ground have cattle in by night and day. However, some farmers were able to snatch silage on Monday and Tuesday before the latest heavy rainfall arrived.
“It got no wilt, but they got it,” said Sean Lavery. “Slurry is an issue for some farmers.”
Read more
Farmers hope for slurry extension
Department rules out slurry spreading deadline extension
North Leitrim farmers waiting for weather reprieve that never comes
Uncut silage and full slurry tanks are putting farmers in the west and northwest under serious pressure.
There are 30 tanks waiting to be emptied
With cattle housed since early August in many cases and silage scarce.
“You wouldn’t go into fields with a quad now, it’s absolutely impossible to get into any field with heavy machinery,” Kevin Comiskey from Dromahair, Manorhamilton told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Farmers around here have cattle in for the last six weeks,” said the Leitrim suckler farmer. What you saw at the Ploughing last Wednesday, we’ve been dealing with on a daily basis in August and September. It’s ridiculous.”
Des McHugh added that second-cut silage made in recent times was of poor quality.
“A few people got in with balers last week, but the silage is very rough, it will have a very low feed value and require supplementary feeding, which adds cost and cuts our income,” he warned, adding that one neighbour had 10 acres of silage rotting on the ground.
Slurry storage is a critical issue for farmers in Newport, Co Mayo, according to drystock farmer Patrick Chambers.
“There are 30 tanks waiting to be emptied around here, with only two weeks to the closed period. We’ll have to get an extension. Even if conditions improved tomorrow, there is no way the contractors will get all that slurry out,” he warned.
He added that neighbours had silage rotting on the ground.
“It’s very serious, people are depressed,” continued Chambers. “I can see an awful exit of people out of sucklers.
"A lot of people have got out already, but I can see more getting out after this year.”
Further south, in Limerick, farmers on heavy ground have cattle in by night and day. However, some farmers were able to snatch silage on Monday and Tuesday before the latest heavy rainfall arrived.
“It got no wilt, but they got it,” said Sean Lavery. “Slurry is an issue for some farmers.”
Read more
Farmers hope for slurry extension
Department rules out slurry spreading deadline extension
North Leitrim farmers waiting for weather reprieve that never comes
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