Wet weather last month has created severe problems for farmers and has also kept the price of new potatoes in supermarkets at a higher level than they should be.
Tillage farmers in north Co Dublin have been unable to harvest the early potato crop as quickly as they would like because of the wet conditions. This has meant that that most of the early potatoes being eaten in the Republic are being imported from Italy and Cyprus and sold at high prices.
"While 90 per cent of the crop has been taken out of the ground in Wexford and Cork, the harvesting of the Dublin crop is slow because of the wet ground," said Mr Jim Thornton, the IFA's national potato co-ordinator.
"The native crop is not coming on to the market as quickly as we would have liked and this means the consumer is being forced to pay traditional high prices for imports," he said.
Mr Thornton said that improving weather will help the situation during the coming weeks and will bring the native crop on to the market.
Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, warned farmers last week to restrict grazing as grass growth was only half the normal rate for late June.
"Farmers who had planned to take a first silage cut in the first week in June are only getting to do it now, and as a result there will be a deficit in silage this year," said Mr Michael Miley of Teagasc. "Those who did manage to get silage have discovered that the dry matter content is 10 points lower than one might expect from silage made at this time of year."
"We estimate that the bad weather of June will cost the average dairy farmer at least £2,000 this year before the drop in milk consumption, estimated at a gallon per day for each cow, is costed in," said Mr Miley.