Our climate is changing and the change is already having an impact on Irish weather.
Recent months have brought drought, floods and hotter temperatures, all of which have greatly disrupted the farming sector.
There is no sign of a return to more normal weather conditions. Just recently, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, warned that we may need to be “prepared for a potential seven-month winter”, noting that what was previously considered exceptional weather, has now become normal.
Many parts of the country have experienced unprecedented rainfall and flooding over recent months, with rainfall totals for March 2024 well exceeding Met Éireann’s Long-Term Average.
And it is not just the increased rainfall which is causing issues. Summer 2022 brought a drought to parts of the country.
Now Copernicus, the EU’s climate change service, is telling us that March 2024 was the 10th month in a row to break the record of the hottest ever.
Weather challenges
Irish farmers are the custodians of the land. Farm families have cared for our environment for generations.
But now they are on the front line of the climate crisis and the resulting weather disruption, with their livelihoods being more vulnerable than any other sector to its impact. We must ensure that farmers receive adequate support to face these adverse conditions.
At the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis, Minister McConalogue, committed to €100/ha for all tillage farmers who plant in 2024.
The minister had previously announced a fodder transportation scheme. While these measures are welcome, there is more we can do. We cannot control the weather, but we can ease the burden facing farmers by taking concrete actions.
Firstly, we need to reduce rep tape. The bureaucracy in the farming sector is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate.
While farmers may be able to cope with the mountain of paperwork when conditions are favourable, they cannot be expected to do so during an unprecedented situation, such as the one we are currently facing.
Minister McConalogue announced a pause on all non-essential farm inspections until April 22 but this pause should be extended.
Secondly, we should introduce support for farmers who cannot spread slurry in the current conditions.
The Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) III provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment.
TAMS III allows tillage farmers, as well as those farmers stocked under the maximum stocking rates to avail of 70% grant aid for slurry storage.
This measure must be extended to all farmers so that they can be prepared for disruption when faced with increased rainfall, frost and even snow in the coming years.
Finally, Teagasc has been asked to establish a system for coordinating advisory supports to help farmers maximise existing fodder stocks and allow those with surpluses to engage with those who are struggling.
I am certain that this will be an effective short-term measure but, going forward, farmers need meaningful engagement both with Teagasc and their advisors.
I am calling for advisors to assist farmers in using the difficulties we are encountering this year to plan for the future. We must have plans in place to face inclement weather.
If we don’t have meaningful engagement, which supports us to prepare to face climate challenges, we risk losing our farmers.
Future of farming
We must act now to ensure that farmers can keep farming. It is the only way to guarantee food security.
Poorest countries are on the frontline of the climate crisis. According to the World Food Programme, three years of drought has pushed an estimated 23 million people across the Horn of Africa into a situation of food insecurity.
In a world grappling with climate disruption, population increase and unprecedented levels of hunger, we cannot afford to lose our farming sector.
At home, the EU’s milk supply continues to fall. Long gone are the days of ‘milk lakes’. It is believed that the EU’s milk supply could deplete by up to 7% over the next 10 years.
This will drive up prices for the already squeezed European consumers and prevent export to regions in need.
We must ensure that the Irish farming sector is given the assistance it needs to face the future. We must take action now to support our farmers, to protect our agri-food industry and to guarantee our food security.
From Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil TD, Cork north-west.