Near or above normal rainfall rates over the past week have been greeted with a sense of relief as drought conditions have gripped the country for several weeks. Reduced crop yields and projected fodder shortages have already placing many farmers under pressure for the winter ahead. While the rainfall is a relief for many, recovery will be a slow process, for some however, it may be too late to reap the long overdue rewards.
JRC MARS Bulletin Crop monitoring in Europe July 2018 takes a closer look at the European Drought event and its affects on different crop yields across Europe.
Soil moisture deficits here in Ireland have been reduced from the dizzy heights of the mid to upper 90mm’s, for some part of the south-east for all soil types, to at or just below near drought conditions (mid 70mm’s to 60mm) for the Midlands and East with that figure well reduces to the north, north-west, west and far south-west. Soil Moisture Deficit Maps among other agrimet data can be found Here along side the forecast for the week ahead.