By kind introduction from John Hogan Farm manager at Teagasc Oak Park Met Éireann recently had the pleasure of contributing to a 50th anniversary book for the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society (ILTUS) which was launched on the 20th of June 2019. From the Met Éireann perspective the focus was on the milestones of the past 50 years of weather and how it has affected tillage and land use, and while fresh in the memories of the struggles of 2018’s drought, a look ahead to what the next 50 years might bring with climate change and its effects on the potential for a longer growing season, fewer frost days and the precipitation patterns that could shape future production.
The book was launched at a wonderful open day in Co. Carlow. The morning started with a visit to Mr. Hugh McDonnells farm in Bagenlstown offering a opportunity to see a selection of crops grown in Ireland over the past 50 years and how crop husbandry has advanced in that time. John Brophys farm in Tullow was the stage for the afternoon events detailing the advances in machinery over the 50 years, with a fine display of machinery spanning the era on display.
The anniversary book was launched in the Mount Wolseley in Tullow following presentations from three interns who spent time on Kevin and Michelle Roenbohm’s Missouri farm sharing stories of the wealth of information and contacts they gathered during there respective times there.
If you get a chance to read the 50th anniversary book it is a wonderful insight to the immense progress made in the past 50 years of Tillage and Land use in Ireland and a great credit must go to all who played a part in bringing this wonderful time capsule to fruition.
For more information on ITLUS, visit their website http://www.itlus.ie/