Irish Farmers Association (IFA) county chairs have said that the wet weather is having a financial, physical, and mental impact of farm families this spring.

No real break in the weather has meant it feels like “one step forward and two steps back” said Jer O’Mahony, the Wexford chair. Land conditions in Cavan have been described as “terrible” by IFA chair Maurice Brady.

“You can’t even walk on it, never mind drive.”

Minimal fieldwork has been carried out, with little to no fertiliser or urea spread. O’Mahony estimated that this year will see the “lowest amount of chemical fertiliser ever spread”, adding that “lime bought last year still isn’t out”.

Brendan Hickey, the Kilkenny chair, said that he could “count on fingers farmers who have fertiliser out”.

There is an urgency to get slurry out, with many contractors spreading using the umbilical system.

Grazing

Grazing is a struggle and cattle are in for the most part, with some farmers letting cattle out for short periods of time. Matthew Hurley of Cork central IFA said that “cows that are out are doing damage, so it’s touch and go”.

The alternative isn’t any easier and Cork west chair Tadhg Healy commented that “physically managing all cattle indoors is a problem, along with housing for calves”.

Despite silage stocks being low and silage reserves being tested, the general consensus is that farmers will have enough fodder provided the weather picks up by the end of the week.

However, some counties are already experiencing a shortage.

Meath IFA chair Dermot Ward is dealing with a number of farmers who have run out of fodder and is “surprised there aren’t more cases because a lot of people are feeding since last August”.         

Grass

Tipperary south IFA chair Pat Carroll warned that high grass covers will become an issue for some farmers next month.

“With the covers that some farmers have, stock should be out full time. It will become an issue into April with the second rotation,” he pointed out.

Carroll added that there is a “scarcity of labour on farms” and an “enormous amount of work to be done” between farm and office work. He called on the Department to extend upcoming deadlines and give farmers and advisers an opportunity to get it done.

His comments were echoed by Tadhg Healy, who said that “with financial pressure and workload mounting, I would ask that the Department and everyone dealing with farmers keep that in mind and I encourage fellow farmers to keep an eye out for each other.”