Farmers with callow land along the Shannon have been hit with a flooding “disaster” with hay and silage ground under 2ft of water.

Offaly contractor Anthony Kelly, who usually makes silage for up to 30 farmers, warned there could be “between 4,000 and 5,000 bales not made because of the flooding”.

Based in Clonmacnoise, Kelly said none of his farmer clients in the area have made silage yet, with many now looking ahead to a winter where fodder supplies will be tight.

“There’s a farmer I bale for in Shannonbridge who usually makes around 250 bales. He won’t get any of that this year,” he explained.

Banagher farmer Michael Silke said he has 50ac of hay under 2ft of water and that the flooding has left him considering a reduction in cow numbers. Silke, who usually saves 600 bales the callows, said he’s “never seen anything like it”.

“It’s a disaster for fodder. We’ll have to buy it now, no question. I’ll probably have to get rid of the sucklers. There’s no future in it,” he insisted.

Dairy farmer Frances Nally, who milks cows off 150ac at Clonbonny, Athlone, described how he has 50-60ac flooded and the water “still rising”.

“We’re grazing second-cut silage here at the minute. That has us down 300-400 bales of silage that we would’ve had. We’re down 150 bales of hay because the hay is under water. There are serious, serious losses,” he added.

Further along the Shannon, at Clonown, suckler farmer John Curley said that “almost half” his winter fodder is gone, with 40ac flooded.

“I can tell you now that anything that the water is on, it’s gone,” he warned.

Protest

Farmer anger is building along the Shannon, with a heated meeting on Monday evening in Shannonbridge seeing 40 landowners in attendance.

The group is planning a protest on Friday morning at 11am in Banagher and a potential bridge blockade is on the cards.

Farmers claim that while recent wet weather has exacerbated conditions, the current flooding is “man-made” by the ESB, OPW and Waterways Ireland, as they did not open flood gates in time.

“What we have today could have been preempted if they had a bit of common sense the first few days of July,” said Nally, suggesting one authority should be made responsible for the Shannon River management.

“Since the inception of this State, politicians have made a political football out of the Shannon. This flooding should not happen,” added Curley.

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Farmer views: July a washout with some cattle housed in parts