The farm is in an area of low annual rainfall, which is 798 mm (32 inches) per year on average; this value is quite low for Northern Ireland standards (1075 mm, 42 inches). The lower than average rainfall is a result of the farm being situated within the eastern extremity of the province. Average temperatures range from 4.5 C in the winter to 14.5 Cduring the summer months. The average temperature over the winter may seem high, but this is mainly due to the fact that the farm is located close to the sea on a peninsula. This also explains why the summer temperatures are a little lower than when one would expect when compared to Northern Irelands temperatures in the summer months of up to 18 C.
| Month | Rainfall (mm) | Max Temp (C) | Min Temp (C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 87 | 6.9 | 2.1 |
| February | 60 | 6.8 | 2.0 |
| March | 64 | 8.7 | 3.0 |
| April | 48 | 11.0 | 4.2 |
| May | 53 | 13.8 | 6.4 |
| June | 57 | 16.7 | 9.2 |
| July | 48 | 18.3 | 11.0 |
| August | 72 | 18.1 | 10.9 |
| September | 74 | 16.0 | 9.5 |
| October | 85 | 13.1 | 7.3 |
| November | 76 | 9.4 | 4.0 |
| December | 74 | 7.8 | 2.9 |
As you may have gathered from mentions elsewhere on these pages, meterologically speaking 1995 was somewhat of an unusual year. It started off somewhat wet which delayed our turnout from the target date of 1st March to the 14th. We had the warmest and driest summer in 200 years. This led to severe (and I mean severe) burn out on many of the paddocks. It also meant that third cut silage yields were down by about 60%. We also had to buffer feed silage during the summer months. Thankfuly we had a very mild autumn which meant the grass continued to grow well into November.