Prolonged periods of heavy rain are making it less likely that slurry will be spread on time, with one farmer reporting he had 14mm of rain on his land in Donegal on Wednesday.

Inishowen in particular has been hit with flash flooding and Met Éireann reported that Malin Head experienced its wettest day since 1955 on 22 August, with 77.2mm of rainfall in one day.

One Teagasc adviser told the Irish Farmers Journal that it would be “utter madness to be spreading slurry”. However, he’d had an increasing number of calls from contractors asking him if the deadline would be extended.

Contractors and farmers under pressure have been making attempts to spread slurry but report that even using large flotation tyres is causing damage to fields.

Extension

Farmers across Ireland are in similar circumstances, with wet weather throughout the country. Multiple TDs from various parties have called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to extend the deadline, but so far there has been no indication that this will happen.

One farmer said the land was the wettest he’d ever seen it for this time of year, and even if an extension was granted, it would be worthless unless the weather cleared and land had a chance to dry up.

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