Farmers have as many methods of gauging rainfall as there are wet days, with hugely varying degrees of accuracy.

These can range from casually assessing the collected rainfall in a particular field puddle or a leaky wheelbarrow or an empty mineral bucket, none of which provide any degree of accuracy.

Though, it has to be said, they do provide a degree of relativity and are better than nothing.

Obviously, it’ll be tricky to compare the rainfall between your full mineral bucket and your neighbour’s leaking wheelbarrow or his dog’s dish.

And, as an aside, if the bucket’s full, certainly don’t venture into the fields in the Duster

In farm jeep terms, these barrow and bucket rain assessors are the two-wheel-drive Dacia Duster of rainfall measurement – cheap and cheerful and certainly not for the purist.

And, as an aside, if the bucket’s full, certainly don’t venture into the fields in the Duster. In fact, if there’s any rainfall in the bucket, you’re better off walking.

The next step in measurement is a quantum leap, whereby you actually buy a cheap plastic rain gauge with a collector, which will probably resemble a flower head and its accuracy will also be suspect. The sort of thing you’ll pick up in a garden centre on a Sunday afternoon for €7.99.

At the end of the year, you are either as dry as Dubai or as wet as Wales

Stick it in the flowerbed with a rose overhanging it and you think you’re Met Éireann.

You faithfully record the totals on the calendar. At the end of the year, you are either as dry as Dubai or as wet as Wales (the country not the prince), neither of which is very useful to know. But it’s a start.

Its jeep equivalent is a single-cab Toyota Hi-Lux with vinyl seats and an Ifor Williams canopy on the back – methodical, workman-like approach with serious intent, but could give you a kick up the arse.

But you’ve got the rainfall recording bug and now wish to improve. Time to ditch the guesswork and get serious.

So, the next step is the electronic measuring station, which sends the data to your phone. Seriously high tech and something you’ll want to brag about, this is the rain gauge (it does temperature as well) for weather gurus and those with pulsating Twitter accounts.

Despite being an unflashy weather guru, I have the station which I do like

In jeep terms, it’s definitely a flashy Ford Ranger Wildtrak, auto with cream leather seats and black alloys.

But you know what? Despite being an unflashy weather guru, I have the station which I do like, but it’s not actually that accurate when compared with the industry standard, which is the 5 inch copper rain gauge. I have had one of these old-timers for maybe 20 years. But Met Éireann has used them for decades. Properly located, they don’t tell lies.

In jeep terms, the copper gauge is definitely a Land Rover Defender – basic as a bench, dead simple with no electronics, but nonetheless the standard by which all others are judged.

Variation

I have had an electronic rain gauge for nearly three years now and in that time, it has varied widely from the copper gauge which is located about 400m away.

It usually under-records – it recorded our yearly total for 2021 as 761mm, whereas the copper collected 858mm. This is an under-record of 12%. At this rate, Kildalkey could become as dry as Dubai.

The manufacturer has no ready explanation. Part of the problem may be that the station is mounted high off the ground – a rain gauge should be 300mm above ground level. But it’s not very satisfactory.

OK, it’s a lot better than a barrow or a bucket, but with a substantial annual direct debit cost, it’s expensive. Maybe the free mineral bucket is not so bad after all.