Farmer Writes: dealing with Donegal floods

For one reason or another, I seem to be running one month behind with the scanning. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, the results will be in.

I now have all but one very late calf weaned.

The strongest bulls were weaned over a month ago and are on 2kg of a barley, maize, distillers and soya hulls mix.

I will probably up this to 3kg soon and then on to 4kg, as I intend to sell these bulls in early to mid-November and want to try to put on as much weight as possible before sale.

I should be getting well paid for feeding them, as young bulls especially are super-efficient animals and are hopefully gaining a ratio of close to 5:1 meal to liveweight.

The remaining bulls and the heifers have been weaned recently and are still housed. The calves will go back to grass in the coming days once they have settled, with bulls on 2kg/day and the heifers on 1kg.

The cows will go back out weather-permitting and graze after the calves.

The animals had to swim out of the shed to get into the trailer

The cows belonging to the first batch of bulls weaned were housed for almost a month. I didn’t really plan it this way, but a combination of poor weather, me going on holidays for a week and Teagasc bringing four groups of students to the farm who needed to see stock just meant they got left in the shed.

However, the upside to this is that I have started to build a good bank of grass for the autumn. With the whole farm now back in the rotation, hopefully this will continue to build and we will get a good dry back-end that will allow us to graze it with a bit of pleasure.

The floods

Thankfully, I’m in the position to think about grazing through the autumn, while, unfortunately, for many people in the area, grazing cattle is not high on their list of priorities.

Miles upon miles of fencing have been washed away

Once again, the true strength and resolve of the farming community has shone through after the heavy rain and severe flooding that took place on Tuesday 22 August.

Farmers and non-farmers alike have pulled together to help their neighbours in any way they can. Up to 85mm of rain fell in certain areas in just six hours.

Although I have not been too badly affected personally, my surrounding area was severely hit, with neighbours and relatives alike suffering a lot of devastation.

Houses have been flooded and land washed away, leaving tracks in places 10ft wide and 10ft deep and with boulders half the size of cars remaining.

Other land has been covered in clay or silt, leaving it useless for grazing. Many farmers have lost stock and, in many situations, especially on hill farms, farmers still don’t know what they have lost.

Miles upon miles of fencing have been washed away. Many bridges have been washed away or, if still standing, have been condemned, making moving stock or getting goods in or out almost impossible.

Although we get plenty of rain in Donegal and flooding is not uncommon from time to time, the likes of this has never been seen before in living memory.

Freak occurrence

A well-known Buncrana farmer told me how the river started to flood his land around 4.30pm. He housed his stock and, thinking they were safe, left his farm to help a neighbour.

A few hours later, his wife rang him and told him to come back as the yard was flooding. He organised help and trailers to get his stock to a neighbouring farm and by the time they were taking the last load of cattle out of the shed the water was chest-high. The animals had to swim out of the shed to get into the trailer.

The same man had all his winter fodder washed away and all his land is covered in silt and will need reseeding.

I called to several farmers last week who were affected. Some of them were stuck in with diggers and dumpers repairing the damage as best they can. All of them had that can-do attitude – the harm’s done, let’s get on with it and get it fixed.

One farmer who had lost miles of fencing told me: “Sure we’re not too bad; at least it didn’t get into the house” – comparing himself to the families who have had their homes flooded and, in many cases, have been left homeless.

Through all the devastation, it’s great to see how the local community has pulled together. Help has been offered from all angles and hopefully no one has been left to cope on their own.

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