Unsettled weather a concern to farmers

With more unsettled weather forecast for the week, there is growing concern in the farming community for winter cereal crops …

With more unsettled weather forecast for the week, there is growing concern in the farming community for winter cereal crops and the potato harvest.

Met Éireann yesterday predicted more gales and rain over the next few days, with little respite for farmers who were hoping for some decline in water levels.

A spokesman for the farm advisory body Teagasc said while there were no immediate problems with cereal crops, should the wet weather continue for a further week, damage could be caused to winter cereals.

He said there was a growing tendency for farmers to leave potatoes in the ground and harvest them as they were needed.

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"Some of these operators will be in trouble in a short time because of the high water tables, but it is too early to say yet what impact this might have."

Most cattle were housed for the winter but in cases where they were not, and where sheep were being farmed, animals should be moved to high ground.

Met Éireann said more rain was expected from today, mainly in the west and south.

"We expect the winds not to be so strong but there will be gales," a Met Éireann spokesman said. "However, we do not expect any decent dry spells over the next few days, and some areas could get anything up to a half an inch of rain by tomorrow [ Wednesday] night."

He said one of the exceptional things recently had been the temperatures, which were above average for this time of year.