Weather unpredictability and above normal rainfall has made it a difficult year for the agricultural sector.
Most farmers were affected in some way or another and right now, potato growers are facing serious crop losses as waterlogged fields impede this year's harvest.
In a ten-hectare field just outside Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, potato grower Sean Ryan is assessing conditions.
As he walks between the drills, his boots squelch in three inches of water as this part of the potato field is waterlogged.
The drills, carefully prepared and planted back in the late spring are now soaked after months of rain that flows in rivulets between them.
It has been a challenging year, according to Mr Ryan.
He said: "We were probably five to six weeks later planting, and we got a lot of rain all summer as well.
"It was a struggle all year long, and then we'd thought we'd get a good end, a good harvest but it just did not happen."
Sean, who is the IFA's National Potato Chairman, takes a fork and starts digging into a drill.
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The soil is mucky and compacted and the potatoes that emerge are not fit for human consumption.
He said: "When you dig them up, the water has rotted them. If potatoes are in water for any more than three days they just rot."
Most of the potatoes he digs are rotten, soft like butter and giving off a foul smell.
At this point Sean says they are not even useable for animal feed.
He added: "You would sicken animals with them. They are a write off, just forget about them."
Around 50% of this year's potato crop is still in the ground, and despite field conditions leaving machinery bogged down or clogged up with muck, and plenty more showers forecast for the coming days, growers are still hoping to harvest even though they are facing losses.
Shay Phelan is a potato crop specialist with Teagasc in Oakpark in Co Carlow.
He said: "I am 20 years at this and it's the first time I've seen this volume of crop still in the ground.
"What we are saying to guys at this moment is to try and salvage what you can salvage.
"Stay away from unworkable areas like this (that are waterlogged) and concentrate on areas where you can actually work.
"The crop is valuable and you need to try and get as much value as you possibly can get out of it."
This year the cost of producing a hectare of potatoes sat around €10,500 between seed, planting and spraying costs, and harvesting.
The IFA said growers will not be able to absorb the financial hit if losses worsen.
From a consumer point of view, Mr Ryan says there could also be a shortage of potatoes in the new year.
"There's very little gone into storage. At this stage in other years, stores would be full. There's a lot of stores with nothing gone into them yet. It's going to leave the thing very, very tight," he said.
