Frank Brady of the IFA in Monaghan says bad weather has pushed farmers into "crisis point". The IFA Ulster/North Leinster Regional Chairman said the problems for farmers are three-fold.
Animals were brought under shelter a month earlier last September and remain in sheds two extra months as we start into April which means storage capacity issues for farmers who expect to put their cattle to grass in February. If cows are allowed onto grass soaked with continuous rainfall now, local farmers run the risk of the damage caused by poaching, the farmer explained.
The accumulative effect is farmers don't have enough silage for cattle and they need to buy extra feed which is more expensive, and the wet ground means they can't spread slurry which is building up in sheds. Frank Brady admitted to feeling personally "totally stressed out" and said farmers in different parts of the country have been hit harder depending on the location and the type of farming that they are involved in.
