THURSDAY last, to Wexford, there to attend the AGMET conference on Climate, Weather and the Environment in the idyllic setting of Johnstown Castle, one of the many stately homes of Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority.
Agrometeorology, by its very nature, is an interdisciplinary science, and it was this realisation some years ago that prompted the formation of the AGMET group. It provides a forum for research specialists in a wide range of weather sensitive activities to cooperate to the ultimate benefit of those engaged in agriculture.
The Johnstown Castle conference marked AGMET's, birthday its third or twelfth, depending on how you care to look at it. AGMET came into being on February 29th 1984, and at the quadrennial intervals at which this date appears, a major get together of this kind is staged.
The highlight on this occasion was the launching of a book, which bears the self explanatory title Agroclimatic Atlas of Ireland. Let me introduce you very briefly to this cornucopia of accumulated knowledge.
To anyone, agriculturalist or not, with an interest in our Irish countryside and climate, the atlas is a valuable vade mecum. In it you will find the geological structure of the country depicted in brilliant colour, from the sandstone of Kerry and West Cork to the basalt rocks of Co Antrim. The limits of the last ice age, the movements of the ice, and its effects upon our landscape are portrayed in detail. It identifies the different type of soil around the country, the locations of our major raised and blanket bogs, and our acreage of trees.
More directly concerned with the weather are the maps indicating the locations of all the weather stations in the country, from those that provide detailed observations every hour to those that measure only rainfall once a month. There are maps showing solar radiation, evaporation, the number of wet days every year in various parts of Ireland, and the acidity of Irish rain.
The distribution of sunshine, wind and temperature are clearly shown, and also how the growing season varies from place to place around the country. The book will even tell you how much you might expect to pay for an acre of ground in Co Leitrim.
The Agroclimatic Atlas is edited by Jim Collins and Thomas Cummins, both of, UCD, and published by the AGMET group. It is currently obtainable from Dr Collins, c/o Faculty of Agriculture at that university, and will be available shortly in all good book shops at a very reasonable price.