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A review of the effects of Storm Emma in late February 2018 on Greenfield farm in Kilkenny is ongoing, director of Teagasc Gerry Boyle told the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.
The review is being chaired by former secretary general of the Department of Agriculture Tom Moran. The committee includes experts from overseas, including places like Canada which would have experience of extreme weather.
It would be inappropriate to get into what is a draft review at this point
“We think there will be lessons learned in terms of the model and also in terms of extreme weather events like that in the future,” Boyle told the Public Accounts Committee.
Costs
Boyle added that a lot of farms were affected by the extreme weather in the spring, followed by the drought this summer, bringing about substantial costs for 2018.
Upon questioning from TD Bobby Aylward, Boyle said that the model at Greenfield is fairly straightforward.
“It would be inappropriate to get into what is a draft review at this point,” Boyle said.
“The storm was an extraordinary event in terms of the build-up of [snow] drifts over a very short period of time. In terms of the wider animal health state, the episodes, while utterly regrettable, are not significant.”
The Teagasc Greenfield Dairy Programme was created in partnership the landowners and key industry stakeholders including the Department of Agriculture, Glanbia plc, FBD Trust, Irish Farmers Journal and AIB.
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