With the weather holding out warm and dry at the moment, concerns over grass growth are not letting up, and the need for some rain – soon – is becoming more evident.

Pat McCormack, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), warned that this coming weekend could have a major impact for the rest of the summer.

“The major concern that’s out there at the moment for our members at this stage is that they need rain. They need it this side of the weekend to be honest, and they need a substantial amount of it,” the farm leader told AgriLand.

If that’s not going to come there’s going to be pressure for the remainder of June, at the very least, even if normal weather condition resume.

“There won’t be much of a second cut. There’s no point saying otherwise. Contractors have a lot of their work done for the year now at this stage, whether they know it or not,” McCormack said.

“It’s fingers crossed, and hoping that we’ll get a good back end to make it up,” he added.

The ICMSA president also outlined that milk supplies are starting to “just feel the pinch” of the lack of growth now.

There are conflicting reports out there. Some are saying ‘it’s going to rain on Friday’, some are saying ‘we’re going to get a drop on Sunday’, and others are saying ‘we are going to get nothing’.

“If it’s the latter – if there’s no rain – then come June 15 there will be high pressure out there, because most farmers are on an 18 to 25-day rotation, and once they come around again there may be nothing there,” McCormack said.

Weather forecast

Met Éireann is predicting a cooler and blustery second half of this week, compared to recent warm spells. However, while rain chances will increase, significant rainfall is not expected through the period, the national forecaster cautions.

Spells of rain or drizzle are expected tomorrow, Thursday, June 4, and Friday, June 5, extending southeastwards across the country. These damp spells will be heaviest in the north-west.

However, any precipitation is expected to be generally light in most places where it occurs.