The wettest July on record in parts of the country is causing “havoc” for farmers seeking to harvest crops, the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC) has been told.
Cereal yields are predicted to be down as much as 16 per cent on last year as the deluge experienced in recent weeks makes crops more difficult to get out of the ground.
The NFFSC – which includes representative of Teagasc and farming organisations – was set up in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to prepare an industry response to concerns at a potential crisis in the supply of fodder and fertiliser.
A meeting of the committee on Wednesday was told that the production of grass-based fodder is broadly on target for what will be needed to feed livestock this winter.
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However, Michael Hennessy, Teagasc’s head of crops knowledge transfer department, said there will probably be a 15 or 16 per cent drop in the amount of cereal produced this year compared to last year.
Cereal yields are predicted to be down from 2.4 million tonnes last year to 2 million tonnes this year.
Barley and wheat make up the majority of the crops planted on tillage farms in Ireland with most of it ending up being used as animal feed.
Any shortfall in production will have to be replaced by imports where needed.
Mr Hennessy told the meeting that the weather in July has been the wettest on record in many places and “it’s really causing havoc out there”.
The committee heard that the downpours have beaten crops into the ground and delayed and limited harvesting opportunities for farmers.
With more rain due this weekend, the wet weather is not expected to significantly lift until the start of August.
Mr Hennessy said it is a “desperate situation on lots of farms” and farmers face a huge amount of work with a “really short window”.
He said he is not a climatologist and did not know whether climate change is behind the weather seen this month when asked by The Irish Times if there is a link.
Mr Hennessy said climate change is expected to see Ireland get wetter and warmer with more extreme weather, though he also noted that there were very wet summers in the late 1980s as well.
Mike Magan, the chairman of the NFFSC, said there will be trends that the industry has to adjust to and whatever the causes “any sensible industry would look at preparing for these extremes”.
