HUNDREDS of farmers in the Shannon Callows area – taking in parts of Galway, Offaly, Westmeath and Roscommon – are facing into an animal feed crisis over the coming months as flood waters continue to rise

Thousands of acres of grass have now been lost due to flooding problems which began in March/April but which have now spilled over into midsummer after one of the wettest Julys on record.

According to local farmers, there is now no prospect of saving any hay or silage this summer with the grass crop ‘destroyed’ due to the ongoing flooding problems.

Farmers are angry after the gates at the Meelick Weir on the Shannon – controlled by Waterways Ireland and the ESB – were only ‘half-opened’ during one of the most intense periods of rainfall in the region from July 13 to July 16.

During that four-day period, the Met Éireann station in Athenry recorded a rainfall total of 70.6mms – nearly 2.8 inches – one of our most intense periods of summer rainfall in the West of Ireland.

According to long-time campaigner for flood relief measures to be put in place along the Shannon Callows region, Michael Silke, it was almost unbelievable that the Meelick Weir gates were only half-opened during this critical flood period.

“We had a 0.6 metre rise in the water levels of the Shannon and yet the water was held back at the Meelick Weir with shocking consequences for farmers in the area.

Pictured: Michael Silke: Disastrous flooding situation.