Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns will ‘challenge farmers’

Farmers could face greater weather challenges if predictions of higher temperatures and rainfall come true, warns Teagasc director Prof Gerry Boyle.

Agri-food leaders attending Teagasc’s Future Weather conference in Dublin yesterday were told to prepare for greater climactic volatility. Rainfall in particular could deviate significantly from traditional patterns.

Prof Boyle said: “The long-term trends towards higher temperatures and higher levels of rainfall mask a potentially greater challenge from shifts in seasonal weather patterns and increasing weather volatility. Seasonal shifts in rainfall patterns will pose challenges for agricultural land management, with inert-annual variability in grass and crop yields expected to rise.”