The IFA called yesterday for a 70 per cent EU advance payment to alleviate a severe cash flow on grain farms, despite estimates that grain farmers have managed to snatch a record harvest from the wet weather.
The harvest had been in severe difficulty until this week when drier conditions allowed almost all of the grain grown in a line below Dublin to Galway to be saved, according to Mr Jim O'Mahoney, Teagasc's tillage expert.
Last week he urged farmers to "smash and grab" the harvest and to cut grain, even if the moisture content was higher than normal.
"I think they have taken the advice and I believe that 90 per cent of the crop in the south has already been saved and by the weekend, the 40 per cent outstanding in Meath and Louth should be saved," he said.
Once again, he said, Ireland will be returning the highest yields in the world, and despite the weather there have been record yields of 12 tones per hectare, nearly two tonnes per hectare up on average.
He said spring barley returns at 7.5 tonne were up half a ton per hectare on previous years. Spring barley makes up roughly one-third of the grain harvest which is 308,000 hectares this year.
"The higher yields will help offset some of the other problems such as the high moisture content. The reduced prices, the late harvest and the late arrival of cheques will create a cash flow for some farmers," said Mr O'Mahoney.
The IFA deputy president, Mr Ruaidhrí Deasy, said 70 per cent of the EU arable aid payment made to grain farmers was badly needed: "Harvesting conditions have been the most difficult for years, with 75 per cent of the wheat crop still to be cut in the north midlands.
"Unless weather conditions and prices improve dramatically, grain farmers will face severe financial losses. Growers must achieve a minimum of last year's price level for barley of €102/ tonne, with a minimum premium of €5/tonne for wheat in order to maintain incomes," he went on.
"The value of the yield increase will be wiped out because of increased penalties due to high moisture content and loss of straw, coupled with the increased cost of harvesting and transport of wet crops."