The autumn sowing season has been abruptly halted and time is being taken to review the rules governing the 2022 season result and the significant risks associated with the 2023 production.
It is an uncomfortable realization that the war in Ukraine was the main cause of the 2022 season’s fortunes, particularly in dairy and grain.
People have been killed and maimed and endured life-changing experiences – and it’s still happening.
The Irish crop of 2022 has benefited from this. We as producers have benefited from this war.
This war shows no signs of ending anytime soon; it has become a medieval war of attrition.
The Russians were looking for their secret weapon with which to hold their own against Germany, Napoleon, the Ottomans and the Vikings: General Winter came to the Russians’ aid when they needed him most and you can see that they are prepare for his return visit with continued bombing of power plants and related infrastructure across Ukraine.
Few can survive a winter outdoors in this part of the world.
It can make us feel very powerless. What can we do to help our fellow Europeans in need?
Well, it turns out that we can help the Ukrainian people very directly. Irish charity project ESPWA has been filling trucks with food aid in Ireland for direct delivery to Ukraine for months – 35 items and counting.
The logistics are tricky. For example, loads in Poland have to be manually transferred from Irish trucks to Ukrainian trucks for insurance reasons.
That hasn’t stopped committed people from working day and night since March on their mission to provide the former granary of Europe with the basics.
This endeavor costs money, and a lot of it, so you know where we’re going with this.
As part of their fundraiser they have created a raffle which will be held on December 28th. There’s a lot of shiny metal on the table, and the number of tickets is limited to 5,000.
Each ticket costs €50, but don’t let that stop you. Surely it’s worth a ton of grain or a few fillings of the parlor to at least acknowledge the source of our happiness in 2022?
Tickets can be purchased on the ESPWA Facebook page, at www.projectespwa.ie or from some dealers and machine shops in the North East.
Richard Hackett is an agronomist from North Co Dublin and a member of the ITCA and ACA
