{"id":1334121,"date":"2024-06-21T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/?p=1334121"},"modified":"2024-06-21T17:34:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T16:34:19","slug":"watch-why-the-sun-is-not-shining-for-strawberry-growers-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/watch-why-the-sun-is-not-shining-for-strawberry-growers-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Why the sun is not shining for strawberry growers this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>&#8220;I hate coming down here&#8221; &#8211; that&#8217;s the honest opinion of one strawberry grower in Carlingford, Co. Louth when he looks at what is left of one of his polytunnels after a particularly vicious bout of bad weather earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it may be the traditional season in Ireland to enjoy locally-grown strawberries, for many like Gear\u00f3id O\u2019Neill, this year has been anything but traditional and the summer is continuing in much the same vein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Strawberry Farmer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/UlYxWxJuvCg?feature=oembed&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;autohide=1&#038;rel=0&#038;controls=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Like many farmers and growers, he is still battling, on a daily basis, the destructive aftermath of a series of storms in Ireland earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-background-color has-background\">Although storms have now passed for O\u2019Neill he told <em>Agriland<\/em> that he is continuing to battle their impact on both his crops and his business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Things have been very tough with the weather, particularly the wind and the rain,&#8221; he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We should be cropping here at the moment, but the tunnel, which is only three-years-old, has been completely decimated. That\u2019s only the wind side of things.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Neill added that persistent rainfall has plagued the area for almost a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;To have six days in a row without rain in Ireland, you\u2019d have to go back to July 2023. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Rain affects strawberry growing and horticulture in numerous ways &#8211; poor sales, poor crop, and additional disease issues due to low light levels,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1334495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-344x193.jpg 344w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2024\/06\/frame-92872-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A strawberry crop damaged as a result of poor weather<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>O&#8217;Neill also highlighted the financial fallout from bad weather and the changing weather patterns this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This tunnel basically has to be reconstructed, and the one beside it needs to be reclad. You&#8217;re looking at tens of thousands of euro,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Poor crops are harder to quantify, but yields are down by 10 to 20%.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When the weather is poor, sales are down. It\u2019s a glorious day today, but when you get a wet, windy week, nobody wants to eat strawberries and cream,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-grey-background-color has-background\">He is also critical about what he sees as the lack of government support for growers like him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There is absolutely nothing that the government has in place to assist with this sort of damage. Horticulture in general doesn\u2019t tend to get support,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As weather patterns continue like this, something needs to be done for damage from these freak storms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Growers can&#8217;t continue producing food at a reasonable cost for the consumer without some form of assistance,&#8221; O&#8217;Neill added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bord Bia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile sector manager for horticulture at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/irish-beef-exports-to-the-uk-rise-by-25-in-q1-of-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bord Bia<\/a>, Lorcan Bourke said wet weather until May 2024 has had a &#8220;huge influence on delayed planting this year&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This will be another highly challenging growing year for all fresh fruit and vegetable growers with yield reductions predicted and shorter harvest seasons. Some increases in prices paid may compensate for losses of yields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Supermarkets have highly sophisticated international supply chains and will fill in any shortfalls in the Irish supply with crops from abroad,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div id=\"agri-related-stories-block_4214d5b2b8715bc36a5fc601f15e3ba8\" class=\"related-stories\">\n        <h5 id=\"related-stories-h5-headline\">Related Stories:<\/h5>\n        <ul class=\"related-stories-list\"><li class=\"related-stories-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/horticulture-crisis-fund-payments-start-to-issue\/\"><svg width=\"15\" height=\"15\" viewBox=\"0 0 637 637\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M326.506 427.855C337.204 440.983 347.434 454.623 357.11 468.774C397.22 422.569 449.051 385.401 510.302 362.596C551.477 347.294 593.633 339.707 635.277 338.983C635.746 332.035 636.002 325.002 636.002 317.969C636.002 308.165 635.533 298.489 634.68 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482.036 392.788 527.986Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M1.32136 289.123C0.468869 298.628 0 308.261 0 317.98C0 325.78 0.298371 333.495 0.85249 341.125C140.49 384.645 259.455 489.33 315.421 635.959C316.274 635.959 317.126 636.001 317.979 636.001C334.815 636.001 351.311 634.68 367.423 632.165C366.315 628.925 365.164 625.686 363.97 622.447C301.185 453.568 162.74 334.561 1.32136 289.123Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M15.1801 415.256C48.5551 519.174 133.889 599.82 240.664 626.503C193.265 527.657 111.384 454.215 15.1801 415.256Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><path d=\"M245.522 345.899C258.309 356.597 270.713 367.807 282.647 379.614C333.115 325.652 396.327 282.175 470.153 254.725C520.151 236.14 571.301 226.38 621.939 224.334C616.696 207.284 610.046 190.873 602.161 175.188C552.205 178.811 501.951 189.424 452.719 207.71C371.093 238.059 301.189 286.139 245.522 345.899Z\" fill=\"#3a9948\" \/><\/svg><h5 itemprop=\"headline\">Bord Bia quality assurance schemes must include focus on &#8216;water quality&#8217; &#8211; DII<\/h5><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I hate coming down here&#8221; &#8211; that&#8217;s the honest opinion of one strawberry grower in Carlingford, Co. Louth when he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3525,"featured_media":1335072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12037],"tags":[888,1564,17703,869,15612,19361,3248,599],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1334121"}],"version-history":[{"count":87,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1335208,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334121\/revisions\/1335208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1335072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1334121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1334121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1334121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}