RESEARCH HAS shown memories to be highly inaccurate constructs. That may be obvious to anyone from the west of Ireland where childhood memories of sun-filled days sit uneasily with recollections of priests storming heaven with prayers for fine weather. Those were the years when hay, rather than silage, was saved. A few fine days in August could make the difference between destitution for a small farmer and what Eamon de Valera described as “frugal comfort”. The spread of early-season silage in the 1970s removed much of that uncertainty.
But a sodden May/June and a miserable opening to July has reignited concerns about the impact bad weather may have on the farming community.
An inability to save silage because of water-logged land has meant that many cattle have been kept indoors and fed rations. The extra cost of feed and lower milk yields have already reduced farmers’ profits. Warm, dry weather is urgently needed to facilitate silage-making and a return of cattle to the fields. In much the same way, crops of winter and spring barley require an early improvement in the weather. It is, however, too early to panic. A change in the direction of the jet stream could still bring a successful harvest.
Farmers are not the only ones to have experienced distress and financial loss because of inclement weather. Tourism interests have been affected, as have many households and businesses in towns and cities hit by flooding. Farm organisations have lobbied hard in recent weeks and there is no doubt that marginal farmers could do with special assistance. But the farming sector has been relatively well insulated from the worst of the recession. Between 2009 and 2011, as jobs were lost and the rest of the economy contracted, average farm incomes doubled. In fact, farmers never had it so good. The country, as a whole, benefited from increased exports and local spending power.
Agriculture has re-emerged as a vital growth sector. Its short-term difficulties should not be allowed to justify a drop in farming standards. Demands by Opposition politicians that farm inspections should be suspended is not only populist, it has the potential to be deeply damaging. We saw what happened to a small number of EU protected bogs when repeated derogations and political cowardice combined to create a local sense of entitlement. High standards, quality food and clean water should be fiercely defended.