Us ‘climate denying’ farmers are actually dealing with harsh realities already

Darragh McCullough

We began future-proofing our land and enterprises for the sharp change in weather patterns many years ago

The next step for me is to introduce some red clover into the system

Darragh McCullough on his farm in Meath

The next step for me is to introduce some red clover into the system

Darragh McCullough on his farm in Meath

February 21 2023 02:30 AM

One line buried among the many, many conditions in the planning permission for my new farm shop caught my attention briefly when I first scanned them.

It was a requirement to engineer all soakaways to cope with at least 20pc more rainwater than historic averages to cope with climate change.

I half dismissed the stipulation as yet another civil servant channelling their inner environmental warrior. But a catch up with my dairy partner, Joe, over the last month has forced me to reconsider my prejudices in this regard.

When Joe specced up the volumes required for the new two million litre slurry bag that was purchased last autumn, he opted for a version that held 50pc more than the regulations stipulated for the 570 cow herd.

At the time, I thought it might have been a bit OTT, and that stratospheric milk prices were beginning to soften our hard-nosed purchasing strategy.

But low and behold, the bag was filled to the brim this winter to ensure that the main lagoon was able to cope with the balance of the slurry until the spreading window opened up last month.

Darragh McCullough: Opinion It’s getting harder and harder to attract workers

I didn’t pay too much heed to the heavy rains during September and October because we had the bulk of our field work completed, but looking back at Met Éireann records, I can see that over one third of our annual rainfall in this area was recorded during those two months.

Crucially, most of this happened just after the slurry-spreading window had closed. It makes me wonder what else on the farm do we need to be future-proofing to cope with changing weather patterns.

Joe has already put a sizeable chunk of the cow’s grazing area under multi-species swards (MSS). This is all the rage now as farmers try every trick in the book to dial back fertiliser requirements.

But Joe’s original inspiration came from a trip to South Africa, where farmers had well developed strategies for dealing with droughts.

With all our land located less than three miles from the coast, it tends to suffer faster than most in a drought. Ripping up 100pc perennial ryegrass swards to reseed with old fashioned grasses like Timothy and cocksfoot was viewed as slightly oddball stuff four years ago when we tried it first.

However, it was one of those punts that has paid off in spades with the MSS maintaining growth better during dry spells and requiring a third of the fertiliser compared to the 100pc ryegrass swards.

The next step is to introduce some red clover into the system. The theory is we can cut lots of high-protein silage bales off it to feed out during the driest periods of the droughts when even the MSS is running out of steam.

The clover’s higher protein content than standard grass silage will provide a better substitute for the absence of fresh grass in the diet, and hopefully minimise the impact of droughts on the herd’s milk output.

Darragh McCullough: Opinion Money-draining shop project nearly has my heart broken ahead of Valentine’s Day

Beefing up the water drinker system is another climate mitigation measure being undertaken this year, with more and larger drinkers, combined with a bigger water reservoir tank to ensure that cows don’t suffer from dehydration during the hot spells which seem to be getting hotter and becoming more regular.

What next? Shading may become a consideration. Luckily, the crossbreed cows have a darker hide than your average Holstein, so they’re less prone to sunburn.

Back home, I’ve invested a lot in trickle irrigation systems for my foliage and peony rose plantations, but at about €5,000 per hectare, there’s not many crops that can justify that type of measure.

And even though trickle irrigation uses a fraction of the water that traditional rain-gun irrigation systems guzzle, it still puts a steady additional load on our well that has faithfully supplied the entire farm for generations.

The demands that are going to be made of our water supplies over the coming years will probably usher in a whole plethora of new regulations governing water extraction on our farms. Yes, more regulations.

And I’m not sure that my tunnels will weather every storm that a cranked-up climate is going to throw at them, but we’ll jump those hurdles as we encounter them.

At least we reroofed the old cubicle shed that had bits of tin flapping in every gale that whipped in here during the winter months.

The thought of an airborne piece of corrugated tin landing on some poor unsuspecting person’s head is one that would have kept me awake at night.

Isn’t it ironic that farmers are often portrayed as climate change deniers?

In fact, we are actually dealing with the day-to-day issues created by our changing weather patterns long before the rest of society even realises the new realities.

Darragh McCullough runs a mixed farm enterprise in Meath, elmgrovefarm.ie.