The managed burning of gorse must be allowed to continue in March, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) national hill farming chairman, Flor McCarthy.
McCarthy has called on the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Culture, Josepha Madigan, to make the allowance and said: “The minister has to take account of how farmers manage their hill land responsibly and where land is burned, it is done in a managed way.
While the focus has been on farmland that has been flooded, there is another consequence of the heavy rainfall in the last month.
“Hill farmers who had planned to manage their holdings have not been able to do so.
“The weather conditions for burning are not the same throughout the country and putting a blanket ban to burning in March would be a retrograde step.”
Concluding, McCarthy said: “Allowing it to go ahead would demonstrate an understanding of the practical issues farmers face in managing their hill farms.”
Farmyard relocation scheme
In other IFA news, the widespread flooding of farmland is putting “a serious strain on farmers”, according to the IFA’s Connacht regional chairman, Pat Murphy.
Murphy has outlined: “The forecast into the weekend is not good, with more rain to fall in areas that are already saturated.
“It will add to the pressure that farmers are experiencing as they work to keep their livestock safe,” he said.