Well drillers in the southeast report a significant surge in business from farmers on the back of last summer’s drought.
The bulk of the farm business has come from dairy operations, but drilling companies say drystock farmers and tillage units are also investing in their water supply.
“The amount of business from farmers has increased massively,” said Collette Ellis of Ellis Well Drilling in Hackettstown, Co Carlow.
“And we’re still very busy. The problem with the drought is ongoing. We didn’t get that much rain this autumn,” she added.
A big proportion of their agricultural work since the summer has been with dairy farmers who have increased stock numbers significantly in recent years, Ellis said.
“Many of these farms had problems with old pumps or wells that were not able to keep up with the increased demand for water,” she explained.
Some farms had installed storage systems to meet peak demand during milking and opened back-up wells to give additional cover, Ellis said.
Wexford-based well driller Mossy O’Rourke of O’Rourke Well Drilling said he had never been as busy sinking wells for farmers.
While farm wells would generally comprise 20% of O’Rourke’s business, he said that figure is over 70% this year.
The demand for wells among farmers has not been as strong in Cork, according to Daniel O’Sullivan. Based at Vicarstown, he said a number of big dairy farmers had sunk “back-up or safety wells” this year.
