There was no fodder saved this year on the Shannon Callows because of “the longest summer flood ever”, a local farmer tonight (Wednesday, November 8) told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Michael Silke, chair of the Save Our Shannon Organisation (SOSO), set out what the daily reality is for farmers who farm on the Shannon Callows to TDs and senators and described the “constant worry and anxiety” they face.
Silke said farmers are now in “dire straits” and appealed to the committee to “do something for us”.
He told the committee that farmers had suffered much pain and heartache and that it had been a “disastrous” year for farmers along the Shannon Callows.
“Nature is not doing this to us – government is doing this to us,” Silke told the committee.
He said that farmers would have to pay out thousands and thousands of euro for fodder because they now had to contend with both “winter and summer flooding”.
Shannon Callows
Silke also told the Oireachtas committee that “no proper maintenance programme has been put in place by any government since Ireland was in British hands” along the Shannon Callows.
He warned that the river now has over grown banks, collapsing banks, silt islands and vegetation which grows in the middle of the river and prevents water from flowing freely.
According to Silke, land is rendered useless for grazing from October to March each year while summer floods also undermine the livelihoods of farmers, business people, boat hire companies, fishermen and people in the tourist industry.
He also highlighted to the committee the impact of flooding on the biodiversity of both sides of the Shannon Callows.
“The Corncrake is now gone. Curlew and all wader birds, swans and wildlife are under enormous threat.
“Their habitats have been destroyed by water flooding the grass, the hedgerows, the drains and the woodland – their homes,” Silke added.
He told TDs and senators that constant flooding throughout the summer months had prevented farmers from grazing land and saving hay.
“This year the summer flood came in early July and has remained since. No fodder has been saved this year in the longest summer flood ever,” Silke added.
According to the Co. Galway farmer, when the flood began to rise in early July, Waterways Ireland and the ESB were asked by residents, TDs and councillors to open all the gates and sluices in Meelick and Lusmagh but SOSO claimed they “failed to do so”.
Silke said because of this, grass was covered “by more then 2ft of water which could not get away” even when all the gates and sluices were opened and as a result the grass is rotten.
Shannon Callows scheme
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, yesterday (Tuesday, November 7) confirmed that a funding package totaling €800,000 will be available to support farmers who have lost fodder “due to exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows”.
The minister said payment will be at a rate of €325/ha for farmers affected by fodder loss and will be paid on a minimum of 1ha and a maximum of 15ha.
But there were questions raised at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine meeting tonight as to whether this level of funding will sufficiently support all of the farmers who have been impacted by the flooding.
The SOSO is disappointed that a cap of 15ha has been specified in the scheme which it believes will not be enough.
The organisation also wants to see a new investment programme in infrastructure that would prevent future flooding in the area.
According to the committee cathaoirleach, Deputy Jackie Cahill, it “very much welcomes Minister McConalogue’s announcement yesterday of funding for affected farmers in the Shannon Callows area”.