Irish farmers struggle to uphold feed and water stock

Farmers in Ireland are still battling to maintain water and feed supplies to livestock this week despite an improvement in weather conditions.

With the country now in the fourth straight week of sub-zero temperatures, providing water for stock is proving extremely difficult. While temperatures have increased, Met Eireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service, is predicting continued hard weather for the remainder of the week.

The thaw has started in many areas and up to 6 degree Celsius is forecast for the southern half of the country today. But heavy frosts are expected again on Thursday and Friday, while some snow is likely in Connacht and Ulster.

Lough Ree on the Shannon has frozen over and the Air Corps was called in to deliver bales of hay to islands on the lake where cattle are being wintered.

Keeping water flowing is the main challenge facing farmers. Water lines to drinking troughs in sheds and yards are frozen solid. Farmers right around the country have been forced to draw water from streams and rivers to ensure adequate supplies for housed livestock.

Others are using pumps to fill drums and tankards in order to bring water to sheds or to cattle and sheep that are being out-wintered. However, getting water and feed to livestock on out-farms is proving extremely difficult due to the treacherous condition of secondary roads.

Liquid milk suppliers and farmers producing early lambs have been particularly badly hit by the cold snap. Milking machines are proving almost impossible to keep right in the current conditions, with farmers reporting that lines are freezing as quickly as they are being freed.