Given the lack of planting progress in Irish fields last autumn, most growers were hoping for a gentle January and February to allow them to make a dent in this spring’s workload. The opposite in fact happened with some areas experiencing record rainfall. As a result, a significant area of spring crops will be planted both here and in the UK, where farmers have also been contending with wet conditions.

Of the spring crop area to be planted, as much as 1.2m acres of this land is expected to be left fallow this season across Ireland and the UK, according to Origin Enterprises. The majority of this will be in the UK.

The group estimates that total autumn plantings for the principal crops in Ireland and the UK are 40% (2.7m acres) behind 2019

The prediction came as the agri services group released its half-yearly results last week.

The group estimates that total autumn plantings for the principal crops in Ireland and the UK are 40% (2.7m acres) behind 2019, at 4.2m acres.

The area of winter wheat alone is estimated to be down 43% to 2.47m acres (4.4m acres in 2019).

Due to the sustained nature of the adverse weather conditions, it is likely that a proportion of hectares will not transfer to spring cropping

Origin estimates that approximately 55% of the 2.7m acre shortfall will be planted in spring crops, with the balance remaining as fallow.

The company said: “Due to the sustained nature of the adverse weather conditions, it is likely that a proportion of hectares will not transfer to spring cropping and [will] remain unplanted in 2020.”

As a result, total autumn, winter and spring crop plantings for the 2020 growing season between the two countries are forecast to be 10.7% behind last year, at 9.9m acres.

Poor January and February

We collated rainfall data from a number of our Sencrop weather stations, which are strategically located around Ireland.

While January was a wet month for most, some areas received less rainfall than others. Our Dublin station, for example, recorded just 26.6mm of rainfall while our Cork station recorded over 77mm for the month.

However, all locations received significant rainfall in February. On average, there were around two to three days without rainfall during the month. Rainfall totals for the month ranged from 97mm to 213mm depending on location. Rainfall totals for each location can be found in Figure 1.

Met Éireann

Met Éireann recently released figures for February which showed that all rainfall totals for its weather station network were above its long-term average (LTA) for the month.

Sixteen stations had their wettest February on record, including Phoenix Park, Dublin (records going back to 1850), Shannon Airport, Clare (record length of 74 years), Dublin Airport (record length of 78 years), Mullingar and Westmeath (record length of 70 years).

The number of wet days ranged from 19 days at Phoenix Park, Dublin, to 26 days at a few stations

Record rainfall was also recorded in Malin Head, Co Donegal (records going back to 1850); Newport, Mayo (record length of 60 years); Claremorris, Mayo (record length of 19 years), Belmullet, Mayo (record length of 63 years); Casement, Dublin (record length of 56 years); and Knock Airport (record length of 23 years).

The number of rain days for the month ranged from 23 days at Phoenix Park, Dublin, to 27 days at a few stations. The number of wet days ranged from 19 days at Phoenix Park, Dublin, to 26 days at a few stations in counties Mayo, Sligo, Donegal and Galway.

UK rainfall

The UK has also got off to a wet start this year. According to the UK Met Office, on average, it was the wettest February since 1862, with 237% of average levels, and some locations had over 400% of the long-term average.

Parts of the UK also had to deal with extreme conditions. For example, in a 24-hour period on 20 February, 180.4mm of rain fell at Honister Pass (Cumbria).