Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice has called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to grant an extension to the deadline to sow wild bird cover under the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).
This is in light of heavy rainfall in the past month. The deadline for the establishment of wild bird cover is set as Monday, May 31.
Rain preventing wild bird cover sowing
Speaking on the matter, Fitzmaurice said: “Listening to farmers on the ground, there are still quite a number of wild bird covers yet to be established.
“Heavy rain over the past month has prevented some farmers getting in to plough land and sow their wild bird covers, due to ground being waterlogged.
“In some areas you can hardly walk on the land, never mind bring in a tractor and plough.
“If you look at Met Éireann’s monthly rainfall statistics, particularly in the west of Ireland, the level of rainfall was up significantly compared to the same month last year.
“Up until this week, approximately 85mm had fallen in Athenry, Co. Galway, compared to 50mm for the entire month last year.
“Rainfall in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, totalled 123mm this month, versus 33mm in May 2020, while in Shannon, Co. Clare, the stats stood at 86.5mm compared to 16.2mm.”
With the weather “set to pick-up in the next few days and into next week”, the Roscommon-Galway TD is asking the minister to grant an extension to the wild bird cover deadline.
“Farm safety is a matter of huge importance and we must not back farmers or agricultural contractors into a corner where they are rushing to get work done in order to meet a deadline, when favourable weather conditions are on the horizon,” Fitzmaurice added.
GLAS, according to the Department of Agriculture, provides payments to farmers to help tackle climate change, preserve biodiversity, protect habitats and promote environmentally-friendly farming.