Fieldwork has ground to a halt and cattle have been housed around the country following the deluge of rain in October.
A number of Irish weather stations recorded as much as double the normal rainfall for the month of October this year. Over 300mm of rain fell at Cork Airport’s weather station last month, more than double its long-term average of 138mm.
Just over 265mm of rain was recorded in Wexford’s Johnstown Castle in October 2023, 54% (122mm) higher than the long-term average for the month in this area, according to Met Éireann data.
Moorepark’s weather station recorded 250mm of rain for the month, while Roches Point weather station in Co Cork received 242mm of rain. Both of these stations had between 54% and 55% more rain than normal for the time of year.
Over 250mm of rain fell in Kerry’s Valentia Island weather station, which usually only gets an average of 177mm.
The month of October brought with it storm Babet in the middle of the month and, this week, storm Ciarán, which has led to unprecedented flooding in parts. The earlier housing will add to farmer costs this backend.
Co-operation
Meanwhile, IFA president Tim Cullinan has called for better co-operation between local authorities and farmers harvesting maize after reports that gardaí and fire services were called out to examine the condition of roads where maize is being hauled out of fields.
He said that farmers are using safety precautions, such as road sweepers, when harvesting maize but these call outs add significant costs to farmers which could have been eliminated by better co-operation on county councils’ behalf.
