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January – Storm Eleanor arrives
2018 got off to a blustery start with Storm Eleanor arriving to Irish shores on 2 January. The storm caused damage to power and phone lines around the country and extensive flooding in western counties.
David Carey's sheep on his farm at Killucan in Co Westmeath. With Storm Eleanor about to make landfall, David was making checks on his store lambs and topping up their feed. \ Philip Doyle
One of a number of fallen trees blocking a road near Drumbar, Co Cavan. \ Ramona Farrelly
Flooded fields near the village of Labane. \ David Ruffles.
Flooded fields near the village of Labane. \ David Ruffles
Sandbags outside Green's pub in Kinvara, Co Galway. \ David Ruffles
Ewes braving the winds of Storm Eleanor to feed from a silage bale near Ardrahan, Co Galway. \ David Ruffles
March – the Beast from the East
Storm Emma arrived at the beginning of March and Ireland was blanketed in snow, with snow drifts of up to 7m reported in some counties. Many parts of the country ground to a standstill and food supplies ran low. Supermarket shelves were left empty with milk lorries unable to get to farms.
Blizzard conditions in Creggymulgreny, Craughwell, Co Galway. \ David Ruffles
Volunteers making cuts in the snowdrifts so cars can pull in to let other traffic pass at Kilberry, Co Meath, on the main Navan to Kingscourt road. \ Barry Cronin
Ewes and their lamb on snowy ground on the outskirts of Naas in Co Kildare. \ Claire-Jeanne Nash
A hardy llama bears the cold on a hill in Crubany, Co Cavan. \ Lorraine Teevan
Heavy snowfalls caused this council snow plough to end up in a ditch in Wilkinstown, Co Meath. Locals got together to try and dig out a clear path on the main road between Navan and Kinsgcourt. Local man Eoin Spillane arrived with a teleporter and cleared the road. His father later arrived with his tractor and they both pulled out the council snow plough. \ Barry Cronin
The south of the country didn't escape from Storm Emma's path either. Here is a section of woodland near Conna in east Cork. \ Donal O'Leary
Outwintered yearling heifers during storm Emma. \ Donal O'Leary
Sheep farmer Davy Leane from the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks bringing his ewes to lower ground in advance of Storm Emma. \ Valerie O’Sullivan
A calf shelter was constructed on Tullamore Farm to provide shelter for calves during the snow.
Greenhouses collapsed under the weight of the snow at the nursery of John Nangle, Barnland, Gorey, Co Wexford. \ John Nangle
Albert Evans from Plattinstown, Arklow, Co Wicklow whos sheds were damaged badly as a result of the heavy snowfall. \ Patrick Browne
July – temperatures rise and the silage pits run empty
2018 will probably be remembered as one of the hottest years on record but it will be etched in the minds of farmers as they year of the fodder crisis. With cows unable to graze, desperate farmers had to turn to their co-ops to source fodder.
A nearly empty silage pit on Barry Kirwan's farm at Holmestown, Co Wexford. \ Philip Doyle
A dry river bed in Maam Cross, Co Galway. \ Philip Doyle
The severe drought was very obvious on this farm in Co Waterford. \ Donal O'Leary
John Fitzgerald and his son Shane milk 180 cows in partnership at Kilmagemogue, Portlaw, Co Waterford. The farm had no rain in over a month and grass growth had dropped to below 20kgs per day. So in order to fill the daily requirement of over 18kg per head of DM intake, they decided to start using the 60 acres of ground that was stopped for second cut silage. The ground is too far away to graze which meant bringing the grass to the cows. Using their own mower and JF precision chop harvester they brought home two acres per day and fed out to the cows under the fence with a paddle mix diet feeder. The cows diet then consisted of 8kg cut grass, 6kg of grazed grass and 4.5kg of meal. This helped them keep the rotation up and maintain production with cows producing 1.67kg milk solids. \ Donal O'Leary
On Greenfield dairy farm, farm manager David Fogerty was forced to feed silage to the herd due to the ongoing drought and lack of grass growth. He and the team prepared a paddock by bringing in silage and roping it off before moving the herd in to graze. \ Philip Doyle
Members of the Killaloe unit of Clare Fire Brigade dampen down a field that had caught fire following being sprayed off two weeks previous. Adrian Ryan and Eddie O'Gorman are pictured here on the hose. \ Philip Doyle
Replacement heifers grazing in drought conditions in east Cork. \ Donal O'Leary
Local farmer PJ Kelly unloading the first load of fodder that arrived at the Dairygold branch in Ardagh, Co Limerick, a few hours after it landed in the country. The fodder was imported by Dairygold for its members that are struggling with a fodder shortage and it was being transported by Nolan Transport. \ Donal O'Leary
Alfalfa imported from Spain arriving at Glanbia's store in Glenmore, Co Wexford. \ Philip Doyle
John Aylward from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny getting to grips with Glanbia's import of Alfalfa. \ Philip Doyle
September – Storm Ali interrupts the Ploughing
Even this year's Ploughing didn't escape the bizarre weather this year. Day two of the Ploughing Championships was called off after strong winds knocked stands and structures at the Ploughing site in Screggan, Co Offaly.
Storm Ali caused the ESB stand at the Ploughing to collapse. \ Barry Cronin
Staff cleaning up the Kerry Social Farming stand. \ Barry Cronin
Queues of traffic leaving the Ploughing site on day two. \ Donal O'Leary
Teleporters were used to secure a corrigated roof close to where buses were parked near one of the gates at the Ploughing. \ Philip Doyle
Tillage farmer Aidan Hand from Co Louth was been forced to harvest his 135 acres of maize at least two weeks early due to the impact of Storm Ali. The storm blew down large swatches of his crop. When he started to harvest he was loosing about 40% of his yield as the harvester was not equipped to pick up crop that was low to the ground. After some adjustments to the head including the addition of lifters, the lose of yield was been reduced to 5%. \ Philip Doyle
In pictures: our favourite images from 2018
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