Challenges to farmers show not everyone can enjoy the heatwave
Even though the heatwave is exceptional it might be unwise to expect a new record high for Irish temperatures — a mark set at Kilkenny Castle, on June 26, 1887, when 33.3C was recorded. That high is still some way off even though six of the warmest 10 years in Ireland have occurred since 1990.
It would take a certain kind of killjoy, a summertime Scrooge maybe, to complain about such magnificent if untypical weather — unless, of course, you are a farmer trying to feed and water animals while at the same time hoping to grow enough fodder to get through the winter that is coming.
Government intervention was needed in recent months to try to minimise the impact of a fodder crisis brought about by an overly long and wet winter. It was necessary to import animal feed to avert animal hardship.
We may be at that point again but because of weather of a very different kind. This extremely dry, warm weather makes growing grass, the staple of our national herd, very difficult.
Some farmers face the prospect of using silage intended for next winter to sustain expanded herds. That would be a disastrous double-whammy and almost certainly lead to winter calls for more Government support.
These stressful realities, for farmers and the environment, seem further indications that plans to significantly expand farm production under the Food Harvest 2025 blueprint are at best misguided.
