Despite an improvement in the weather, farmers are facing a major fodder shortage this winter, according to Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority.
It has concluded that the bad weather has led to increased costs, lower animal performance, poor winter feed supplies, increased diseases in cereal crops and a reduction in output in vegetables, fruit and nursery stock.
A Teagasc spokesman said a considerable period of dry weather would be necessary to recover some of the losses.
In a report prepared for the Department of Agriculture and Food, it said there was a major difference between what had happened in the drier parts of the country and in the wetter farming areas in the west and midlands.
Grass growth in the drier areas, it said, was up to 80 per cent of normal but back to 50 per cent of normal in wetland areas.
It found that around 20 per cent of farmers had to house animals either parttime or full-time during the last six weeks but a substantial carry-over of silage and hay from last winter helped to avert a feed crisis on these farms.
Silage-making was delayed by about three weeks on average, reducing its quality. As of last weekend, the drier parts of Ireland had cut between 75 per cent and all of the first cut, which accounts for half of the 20 million tonnes of silage saved each year. "But the figure may be as low as 20 per cent to 40 per cent in the more difficult areas," the report continued.
"Only tiny quantities of hay have been made and the quality is poor. A shortage of good-quality hay may cause problems for horse feeding."
All cereal crops had been subjected to extremely high disease pressure, leading to an increase of up to 30 per cent in spraying costs.
Teagasc predicted a drop in yields, especially in spring barley. Seventy per cent of the maize acreage which was not grown under plastic was under severe pressure, and unless the weather improved quality would be severely affected. The potato crop, especially British Queens, had been affected by an epidemic of blackleg and blight had been detected early in the season. Some broccoli and cauliflower growers had suffered total crop losses and strawberry yields in outdoor crops were only 50 per cent of normal. It had been a particularly bad season for vegetable growers.
The report calculated that dairy farmers were feeding an average of 3 kg of meal to each cow a day because of the weather and on intensively stocked farms dairy cows were being fed up to 8 kg of meal a day. This averted substantial reductions in milk yield.
It added that lamb sales varied from about 80 per cent of normal annual levels in drier areas to 15 per cent to 30 per cent in wet areas.