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CHILLING RE A L I TY
COLIN AND PAT FOX SURVEY THE DAMAGE
Teagasc nursery stock/ornamentals advisor, Dónall Flanagan captures the chilling reality of the damaged wreaked by Storm Emma and the Beast from the East
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read shortages were the least of our concerns during Storm Emma. The impact was quick and severe. I think we can all say that what we saw was like something that happens in other countries – never in Ireland, until now. Over 36 hours in the early days of March up to a metre of snow fell on the east coast of Ireland, drifting to well over 2m in places. With plenty of warning in advance growers had time to prepare: snow shovels, ropes, brooms, bamboos and leaf blowers to knock snow off tunnels. Glass houses were readied, thermal screens lifted, fleece put on. Heaters purchased in 2010 were dusted down and fuelled up. Tunnels were braced if they didn’t have snow bars. Knives were taped to long handles to cut polytunnels away if it got really bad. While most of Ireland was watching the storm reports on TV, growers were shovelling snow to save their businesses. Heated glass was burning through oil, gas or wood chip at a phenomenal rate. PJ McMahon from Kilmoon Cross Nursery says: “We burned 10,000 litres of oil and 16 tonnes of wood pellets. Constant maintenance and repairs were running at this high level. One fruit grower spent €8,000 heating his glass over the cold period. I have heard that some tomato growers were running up to 600C to keep the snow levels down. 30cm of snow is about the maximum that modern glass can withstand, polythene houses might take up to 44cm snow or more. Saturday morning [3 March] growers woke to see unimaginable damage. I estimate the cost to the nursery and fruit sector will be in the millions of euros just for repairs and replacements – cash flow lost during the peak of the season is impossible to calculate. Growers that came away with little damage worked hard, had made preparations
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and were lucky.” I don’t know what must run through your mind after seeing your livelihood and your life’s work smashed. The picture unfolded very quickly. Exceptional levels of snow fell in two main pockets: east Kildare and Wicklow, Wexford border saw the worst damage. Soft fruit, salad, bedding and nursery growers were hit along with many farmers. An Taoiseach visited some sites in Wexford, including O’Connor’s Nursery, shortly after the damage was done. O’Connors Nursery was one of the worst hit, losing some new and old glass on their main site. All growers on the Barnland site had some damage, John Nangle lost 1 ½ acres. Over the following days it was heartening to hear of all the offers of support coming in; extra space, labour, spare potting machines and more. The media was keen to report the unfolding scene. Colin Campbell’s nursery was very badly damaged – he was interviewed on Liveline and on TV. He gave a very good picture of what challenges lay ahead. Looking further afield, to the eastern states of USA that would occasionally see both severe snow storms and hurricanes, speaking with growers there, they say that insurance often picks up much of the cost, but clean up and stress are added costs not usually covered. It’s never an easy recovery. We often hear of emergency funds being made available after hurricanes etc. The US government has offered low cost loans in extreme cases, but the industry has found that is is generally not very helpful. Speaking with Alan Jones of Manor View Farm, Maryland: “Generally, growers have ended up making it work themselves, but we have often seen growers who did not suffer damage helping out those who did. You find out who
/ www.horticultureconnected.ie / Spring 2018
