DEAR SIR: It is with much disappointment that I have read on social media and elsewhere the response of farmers and others to the difficulties that the farm staff in the Greenfield dairy farm in Kilkenny faced last week during Storm Emma.

Even though Met Éireann had issued a red alert for a lot of counties, the extent of the damage from snow drifting was worse than anyone would have anticipated.

The hardship endured by many farmers and others in tending and caring for their animals over those gruelling few days was massive.

A huge gratitude is owed to all of those who helped out over those few days in getting snow cleared and cows fed and milked.

To suggest that a roof in Kilkenny could have averted some of the difficulties is nonsense. There have been many sheds in different counties that have collapsed under the weight of large and unforeseen snow accumulation over the last few days, leading to loss of animals, many of which were built to Department of Agriculture specifications.

Every farm was affected in some way and even though I had a roof over my cubicles, there was still 18in of snow covering them last Friday.

Our support at this time should be towards those that have had to deal with such mental and physical trauma and stress.

Commitment

We must also acknowledge the commitment of employees who faced into such difficult circumstances over those few days and made it into work and hardship.

A huge thanks is also due to many agricultural contractors who helped farmers clear roads and allowed milk to be collected. Without them, many rural areas would still be inaccessible. The relief that was felt here by everyone working on the farm to finally see the Glanbia milk lorry arrive on Sunday evening and the commitment of the drivers to do so was enormous.

The Greenfield dairy farm is one of the best initiatives in the dairy industry and has allowed many to learn from the model used and adapt it for their own expansion or conversion into dairy farming. It had allowed many new entrants like myself to convert very successfully to dairy farming. I hope we will continue to see the full transparency that has operated up to now continue in the future to allow us to learn from it.