As the wet weather continues to drive some farmers to despair across the island, some may have considered diversifying the use of the likes of a slurry spreader or other machinery on their farms.
Given the amount of rainfall that has fallen in recent weeks, there are currently some fields that closely resemble a large pond – and might well seem like jet ski territory.
Farmers are always under time pressure and given the fact that many have not been able to spread slurry where and when they want to in recent weeks then to some, it might seem an obvious solution, to double up on a job.
It certainly appeared to be the case for one avid jet ski user who was keen to bring their watercraft to the Jet Products sales and service centre in Co. Tyrone.
Located on the Melmont Road in Sion Mills, just a five-minute drive from Strabane, Jet Products claim to be Ireland’s “only authorised Yamaha WaveRunner dealer”.
It is well-used to dealing with enthusiasts, but even they raised an eyebrow when they recently watched a tractor driving into the premises with a slurry spreader attached at the back, followed by the jet ski in tow.
Heidi of Jet Products told Agriland that the driver of the tractor had travelled from Co. Armagh to Co. Tyrone with the jet ski in tow to carry out repairs on it.
She added that the normal length of time the journey would take by car would be roughly an hour and a half.
It is unknown how long the tractor, with the spreader and jet ski in tow, took to reach its destination after leaving Co. Armagh.
It is understood that the slurry spreader did not contain any slurry at the time of the visit to Jet Products.
Heidi said that it was “probably a first” that a jet ski was brought in to them in such a way, but she said that previously another customer had opted to bring his jet ski to them using a horse and cart.
With Met Éireann declaring that there will be another 10 days of rain ahead, it may be time for farmers to look at options for how they work on their waterlogged land.
While it has been demonstrated that a slurry tank can tow a jet ski, Agriland is unsure as to whether the roles of these pieces of machinery can be switched.
