Farmers ask for Government help

FARMERS whose property is flooded following the devastating rain of the past week have called on the Government for support.

The floods have destroyed fodder for livestock, stretched the capacity of slurry tanks to cope with flood waters and imposed extra feed and other costs on farmers already trying to cope with low incomes.

Both the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) have appealed to the Government to help their members.

IFA president Padraig Walshe saw the impact on farms and other property when he visited flooded areas in the west of Ireland over the weekend.

“The situation for many families is almost unmanageable and it is making working conditions extremely difficult for farmers,” he said.

Mr Walshe said the farmers and householders worst affected must be provided with priority assistance.

“We also need to see the implementation of an action plan to address the root cause of the flooding, which will require a proper river maintenance programme that has been neglected for decades,” he said.

Mr Walshe said the flooding would exacerbate a severe income and fodder crisis for farm families and Teagasc and Government agencies must implement plans to address the looming crisis.

ICMSA deputy president John O’Leary called on Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to introduce exceptional measures allowing farmers to drain flood water from slurry tanks.

Many farmers’ slurry stores have filled with flood waters but they are unable, under current law, to remove this water until next January 12 at the earliest. In the northern half of the country the earliest removal date is January 30.

“We now have the absolutely crazy situation where the water that has flooded into the slurry tanks is deemed tainted,” he said.

“As such it cannot be drained off, with the result that new slurry cannot be deposited in the tanks because there is no room due to the flood water.”

Mr O’Leary said the ICMSA wants regulations changed immediately to allow affected farmers to spread this water on land.