Northern Ireland fruit, vegetable and potato crops at risk after months of rain

Orchards under water, late spring planting because of waterlogged fields and manual harvesting of leeks, turnips, parsnips and carrots are just some of pressures NI farmers are facing because of increased rainfall climate scientists warned of.

While one single weather event can be put down to the climate crisis as this would take singular investigations of the data, Northern Ireland has faced almost continual rains since last July - like the rest of the UK and Ireland.

According to the Ulster Farmers' Union the ongoing wet weather is "causing concern resulting 'in increased financial and emotional pressure on farms".

Read more: Climate crisis: Public bodies told to start gathering data on their emissions

UFU president and Fermanagh farmer, David Brown, says the challenges now being faced are unprecedented.

He added: "We are well used to coping with wet weather, but the present situation is beyond anything that could have been planned for. The rain is relentless, and frustration is now giving way to despair, as the realities of a potentially bad grazing season and harvest come on top of concerns about prices not covering the cost of production.

"This is as serious a situation as most farmers can remember – and it is affecting every sector of agriculture."

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir recently met with UFU leaders for a farm walk at Caledon Estate followed by round table discussions about the challenges for arable and horticultural farmers, when we understand he committed to further exploring the future of the sector.

A UFU spokesperson said: "All sectors are suffering but UFU cereal, vegetable, top fruit and potato growers now struggle to get crops planted, established and managed as a result of the prolonged wet weather."

They also said "the stark reality of economic analysis of yields and prices are an unknown compounded by many other countries also facing difficult growing conditions" and that it is feared "late spring bean planting beyond mid-April will also result in late harvesting and add to grower frustrations and the additional cost on wear and tear on machinery".

They said potato growers have been affected by flash flooding, the weather has made it almost impossible for veg growers to get into fields with machinery and growers have had to revert to manual harvesting for leeks, turnips, parsnips and carrots to meet orders adding to cost of production.

Vegetable planting is said to be now well behind schedule with earlier crops are looking stressed and farmers waiting for better weather to resume their work to meet "retail supply demand for local seasonal produce" while top fruit Armagh Bramley apple orchard owners are also impacted with some orchards under water, which could impact the quality of harvests.

The UFU has urged DAERA to provide more support for farmers facing these concerns.

He added: "“We are disappointed, that no support was available for the potato and vegetable farmers who suffered significant flooding losses last autumn, even though £15 million was allocated for the UK and it appears that farm businesses in NI are not going to receive the support that has been allocated in England."

He also called for greater fairness along the supply chain to supermarkets after Tesco announced their pre-tax profit of £2.3bn - a major jump from £882 million the previous year saying farmers will be frustrated by comments from Tesco that a surge in profits is on the back of easing 'price pressures'.

Mr Brown added that this must not lead to a further correlation on the prices paid to farmers, which remain under pressure from aggressive retailers despite rising costs on farms.

He said: "We have long advocated greater fairness along the food supply chain. That cannot go hand in hand with retailers enjoying big profit increases while losses rise on farms. By no standards could that ever be described as fair," said the UFU president as wet weather has worsened the cash flow on many farms, putting them under more pressure.

"In many cases, Tesco will have been paid for food off farms, long before farmers have been paid for it. The retailer is taking no risks, while farmers struggle with costs, weather, and the incessant pressure from retailers on their margins.

"These figures confirm that Tesco is getting all the rewards, while farmers carry all the risks. An effective food chain depends on fairness and these figures confirm that does not exist for farmers," said Mr Brown.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.