Farmers are now working 14 hours a day to be broke, according to North Clare dairy farmer Pat O’Donoghue.
Mr O’Donoghue, who runs a 48 strong dairy herd near Ennistymon, said many farmers’ first cut of silage, which was meant to supply fodder for the winter, is now gone because of the poor grass growth caused by the drought.
He described pasture and grazing ground as being ‘toasted’ because of the heat and said the quality of milk is also suffering with poor grazing resulting in a drop in protein and butter fat content.
He said Glanbia is now importing Alfalfa from Spain to supplement feed for farmers, and he predicated as chaotic autumn and winter fodder crisis because of the implications of the current drought.
Water tankers have been brought in to Fanore and Ballyvaughan where water outages have occurred for the past three days.
Irish water said they are on the extremity of the network of a large rural group scheme served from Ennistymon water treatment plant and therefore they have been worst affected by reservoir levels falling.
Night time restrictions have been put in place in areas along the network between Ennistymon, Lahinch, Lisdoonvarna and Finnor to allow the reservoir to recharge.