Northern Ireland may traditionally be known for its cooler, wet weather but a new study published today (Wednesday, April 2) shows that ‘unseasonable’ conditions including hotter, drier summers with warmer temperatures are taking a toll on NI farmers.
The new research study, led by the University of Bristol, is the first in the UK to combine national climate risk modeling results with local insights from farmers and rural care providers.
The more localised findings focused on towns across Northern Ireland, including Castlederg in County Tyrone, that holds the record for Northern Ireland’s hottest and coldest temperatures.
The lead author of the study Dr. Alan Kennedy-Asser, senior research associate at the University of Bristol, who is from Moira, in County Down said: “Our research highlights the importance of understanding the local setting in which weather and climate impacts occur.
“With further global warming, other parts of Northern Ireland can expect to see the temperatures previously recorded in Castlederg, so we can learn a lot from the local experts within communities who have experienced these extremes first-hand.”
NI farmers
Farmers in Northern Ireland told researchers that they were already experiencing a wide range of adverse effects due to climate change, such as flash flooding which hamper operations and reduce crop yields.
Increased periods of drought also mean that NI farmers need more water for vegetable crops during hotter drier summers, particularly in the east of the country.
Farmers also highlighted in the study – “The role of local knowledge in enhancing climate change risk assessments in rural Northern Ireland” – how even moderate but unseasonal weather could be highly disruptive.
They said this made it difficult to plan routine farm work such as spreading slurry and fertiliser or having to house animals for longer due to water logging of fields.
This created other problems, such as animals facing increased risk of potentially fatal diseases including pneumonia.
Co-author of the report Dr. Donal Mullan, senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Growing up on a farm in rural west Tyrone, I have witnessed more unpredictable and extreme weather negatively affecting the timing and quality of crop and silage harvesting, slurry and fertiliser spreading, and livestock management.
“Climate change is not a distant problem for some other place – it is happening right now and impacting our rural communities right here in Northern Ireland, and it is only going to get worse as the climate warms.”
