Farmers ‘will need three years to recover’

It will take up to three years for farmers to recover from the financial damage caused by this year’s washout summer, according to Tipperary dairy farmer Pat McCormack.

“The things farmers take for granted in the summer are posing massive challenges to us. The silage has been delayed, in some places non-existent. We recovered from 2009’s bad year but that was with two very good years of weather behind us. It is a rollercoaster that is getting faster. What we need now is two weeks of very warm weather to get back on track.”

Mr McCormack, who is also the deputy president of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association, said the combination of two very different years has had an extremely negative effect on farming.