Wet weather taking its toll

The wet weather continues to take its toll on farms around the country. It’s hard to explain to people outside farming the mental strain that spring 2024 has put on farmers.

Spring should be a time of hope and new beginnings but for some farmers the beginning of April marks the eighth month that cattle have been indoors.

Stress

Throw in calving and lambing on top of full slurry tanks and empty silage pits and you get a picture of the stress being experienced on livestock farms. Tillage farmers are also facing very uncertain times as crops remain unplanted.

Farmers are an extremely resilient bunch but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that stress can get the better of the best of us.

It’s important to keep talking. Cork Central IFA has taken the lead on this and organised a social breakfast for Sunday 7 April in the Vienna Woods hotel for farmers to chat and re group in difficult times.

Looking back to the 2018 fodder crisis it was talking that helped a lot of farmers through that difficult period. If you think someone is struggling, lift the phone or call into the yard to have the chat. A 10-minute chat over a cup of tea could be a huge help in getting a neighbour through a tough week.

Farmers across Europe are being asked to detail their experience of the complexity of CAP schemes through a survey which will close next Monday, 8 April.

Brussels says the farmer survey will identify areas of concern about the burden placed on farmers, and identify where improvements can be made.

It also seeks suggestions from farmers about how to reduce complexity. The results will be included in an autumn analysis of CAP.

The survey asks about the time taken up by paperwork, inspections, and your experience of complying with different rules. It takes less than 20 minutes to complete and can be found at ifj.ie/eusurvey

Have your say before the closing date of 8 April.

The inaugural Irish Farmers Journal Renewables Roadshow kicks off next Tuesday 9 April, at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs, Cork.

Over the coming month, we’ll travel to three other locations in Kilkenny, Cavan and Athlone to answer your questions on renewables.

There is an opportunity for every farmer reading this to gain from renewable energy production. However, how you do that may be different depending on your farm.

So if you want to learn how solar PV, biomass, anaerobic digestion or even retrofitting your home can work for you, then come along to our first roadshow next week. Doors open from 7pm.

To register for this free event, go to ifj.ie/renewables