As temperatures plummet around the country, a Meath farmer reckons he has set a new record for making hay in November.
Gus Martyn from Dunderry has received calls from astonished farmers across Ireland, after he made 40 large round bales of hay in the dry weather last week.
Prices for hay and straw have doubled because of its scarcity but Gus took advantage of the recent spell of mild weather to make hay for the second time this year.
He said: “I was going to make silage but the weather was so good that I thought I’d be able to make hay in the middle of the field and bale silage at the headlands and I was right.
“The local contractor John Joe McGourty thought I was mad when I rang him but when he had a look, he agreed that it was fit for hay.
“The bales are now in the shed and they’re dry. If you make hay too soon, it heats and then it’s no good but this hasn’t heated.”
“I’ve been making hay by myself and with my father when I was young for about 50 years now and I’ve never heard tell of hay -making in November in Ireland.
“I made 80 bales in the summer and a further 40 last week on my eight acres of land.
“Farmers are ringing me from Cork, Galway and all over the country in surprise. Farmers, especially in the west had a bad year and didn’t get to make any hay or straw because of the weather.
“Feed is scarce and hay is selling now for up to €30 a bale and straw at €16 which is double that of last year. And here I am managing to make hay in November.
“No one else has ever heard tell of it before so maybe it’s some kind of record,” he said.