Farmers are being advised about precautions that can be taken to help keep cattle safe during thunder storms.
This follows the loss of 10 cattle on a county Cavan farm following a lightning strike last Friday.
The one-year-old heifers were taking shelter under a tree on a farm in Butlersbridge when a bolt of lightning struck, killing them instantly.
The area was under a Met Éireann Status Yellow thunderstorm warning at the time.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Teagasc Regional Advisor David Colbourn says farmers have to assess the situation. "You have to think about the risk. Is there one big tree in the middle of the field? Is it a big hill with no shelter in it at all? The cattle exposed from the top of the hill? Is there a single electric fence wire running along the top of the hill that the cattle might be off the side when the lightning strike comes? Because cattle can be killed along an electric fence line too. They can be killed around a ring feed or a big exposed field."
"A general hedge all around the field would be safer, not the big high exposed field. Some way of taking them out. But ideally, you'd move them to a shed. Ideally, the shed would have a lightning rod on it, but a lot of times, this is possible to do that."
Met Éireann has issued a number of Status Yellow thunderstorm warnings for the coming days, including for Cavan and Monaghan.
