Disaster for Galway farmers as rain contines

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Written by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Galway's farming community has been hit hard by what they say is the worst summer weather since 1985.

According to Michael Silke, Vice-President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in the Connaught region, the situation is disastrous. Mr Silke, who has a farm in Eyrecourt, told the Galway Independent that farmers will suffer repercussions from the bad weather next spring.

Ground conditions are so bad that "absolutely no hay is being made", and silage is difficult to retrieve. According to Mr Silke, machinery cannot travel through the waterlogged fields in order to harvest, and the quality of crops is deteriorating as a result.

With recent reports of potato blight in some areas of the country, it is farmers of crops such as potatoes, peas and strawberries that are being hardest hit, particularly as the incessant rain is preventing them from spraying crops for blight. Galway does not have a huge amount of potato farmers, but "a significant number" of the county's farmers will be affected nonetheless.

According to Met Éireann statistics from Claremorris, the nearest weather station to Galway, 10 June was the last day on which there was no rainfall, and next week's weather is looking unsettled.

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