Many farmers along the Shannon flood plains who have entered into contract to protect the last remaining corncrakes by not harvesting their hay until this month have suffered a blow because their hayfields have now been flooded. The 200 landowners involved who agreed not to cut their meadows until after August 1st now find their harvest is under water or waterlogged to such an extent that some have lost their entire winter feed stocks.
While the corncrakes, which number fewer than 100 in this area, have managed to breed and rear their first clutch of young birds, it is the farmers who are under severe threat.
Yesterday a group of them led by the Irish Farmers' Association national treasurer, Mr Tom Parlon, showed The Irish Times the extent of the problem which he said had affected farmers from Athlone to Portumna.
"There is not much sense in saving the corncrake if we cannot save the farmers first," said Mr Parlon, who has called for a dramatic increase in the rates of compensation being paid to farmers to save the corncrake.
They currently receive £32 an acre for not mowing their meadows until after August 1st and a further £8 if they mow their fields from the centre out rather than from the margins in. Mowing from the centre drives the corncrake to the edge of the fields and provides cover for it to escape. If the meadows are mowed from the outside, the bird retreats to the centre and is eventually destroyed.
Mr Parlon said £40 an acre would not in any way compensate farmers for their losses because they did not mow their fields in the last weeks of July when the weather would have allowed harvesting.
One of the worst-affected farmers is Mr Brendan Glynn, Lusnagh, Banagher, who calculated his contribution to saving the corncrake would cost him more than £2,500 this year. "All my hay is on the callows and I began to mow on August 1st when I got clearance to do so.
"Within two days it was under 4in of water and it is still there today," he said. He would be paid £900 from the corncrake scheme but as he had lost all his winter fodder, the total bill facing him was £2,500.
"There were a couple of dry spells between the middle and the end of July when I could have got the crop, but because of the corncrake I could not mow, so I have been caught," he said.
In all he has lost 25 acres of meadow which would have provided him with the winter feeding needed to continue his operations. Now he must replace this with hay or silage purchased elsewhere.
Mr Tony Reddin, from nearby Shannonbridge, said he has lost 13 acres of hay which was cut just in time to see it disappear under the Shannon floods. "I am not in as difficult a situation as a lot of my neighbours because I am in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme and I get paid £60 an acre on all my land, not just the callow lands where the corncrakes breed," he said.
"Nevertheless I am going to lose money this year and I think the rules need to be changed to be more flexible so people like us can harvest when the weather is right if we know there are no birds there," he said.
The farmers were in agreement that a payment based on EU seta side, currently worth £136 an acre, would be more appropriate to the needs of the farmers along the Shannon callows where the corncrakes breed.
Mr Edward Delahunt, who also farms on the callows, said that until three years ago corncrakes were breeding on his land and he was involved in the scheme to protect them. "Floods came in May and June that year and we lost the crops as well, and the corncrakes never came back. It is necessary for the land to be mowed to keep the habitat right for them and it equates with the setaside situation," he said.
The co-ordinator of the corncrake scheme, Ms Cathy Casey, said she was concerned that farmers had lost fodder crops. The corncrake could not survive without the co-operation of the farmers and she would like to see them receive more money.
"It's bad news all round. The corncrakes normally breed twice a year and most of the second clutches have now been lost because of the floods, so we are expecting a drop in corncrake returns to the callows next year," she said. "However, the money we pay is an incentive, not compensation, and farmers have been getting their hay in previous years."