Farmers in west Cork recorded between 40mm and 50mm (two inches) of rainfall last night, leading many to switch into winter mode. In Bantry, the 56mm of rain brought by the last band of rain has pushed the September total so far to 227mm – 50mm more than the whole month in 2016.

“I have a lot of livestock taken off this morning and brought in,” said Robert Ellis, beef and dairy farmer in Drinagh, Co Cork. “They will be in for the rest of this week judging by the forecast.”

“The slurry tanks used to finish cattle were emptied during the summer, but with more and more animals going in in the past two weeks, they are filling up again,” Robert said. “The winter has started.”

We bring in the cows after three to four hours grazing

In Milltown, Co Kerry, dairy farmer Noel Murphy tells a similar story. While he managed to bale the last of his second-cut silage on Tuesday, he says the weather is “a bit of a disaster”, with very poor trafficability in the fields.

“We bring in the cows after three to four hours grazing. It’s been like this for the past two weeks.”

Noel reckons he put 60% to 70% of his slurry out, but is not sure he will get another chance before the closed period starts: “It is putting a dampener on a reasonably good year. It broke one month too early.”

In Bonniconlon, Co Mayo, dairy farmer Sean O’Donnell brought his cows in for the first time this autumn after last night’s downpour and plans to house them for the next few days. Depsite peaty lands, “we weren’t too bad so far this year,” said Sean.

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