Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal on the final day of this year’s National Ploughing Championships, Charlie McConalogue said farmers in his own county of Donegal are some of the worst hit by the delayed harvest.

“It has been a very unusual year in the level rainfall in the west. All farmers are taking a hit and in my own county. Two-thirds of the spring crop is still not in. Some farmers haven’t gotten any of it in. It’s at crisis levels now,” McConalogue said.

At the Ploughing on Wednesday, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny said both he and the Government would look at “any sort of assistance and support that we can give farmers caught" by the bad harvest.

McConalogue has urged An Taoiseach to establish a crisis fund to support these farmers prior to next month’s budget.

“I think they need to look at it before the budget. They need to give some sort of indication that they are going to give some type of support to those farmers who can’t get the crop out… there needs to be some sort of crisis fund for those,” McConalogue said.

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