Harvesting is now all but complete and the focus now returns to planting winter crops. Farmers have been helped considerably in this by the good weather we have seen over the past week. This good trend looks set to continue for Friday and the weekend, with eastern and northeastern areas tending to stay dry most of the time today, except for the odd shower.

Southern and western counties will, however, be a little more cloudy with occasional rain and drizzle during the day. Highest temperatures will range from 14°C to 16°C in light south to southeasterly breezes.

Saturday will also see the occasional shower through the day, according to the forecaster, but overall it will be mostly dry and bright with good sunshine developing. Highest temperatures will range from 14°C or 15°C.

On Sunday, fog will be widespread throughout the morning, but it will lift in most places by midday. Otherwise it will be dry for the day with good sunshine and highest temperatures of 14°C to 16°C. There will be some rain in the northwest of the country during the evening to early night.

Outlook for next week

The outlook for the rest of the week is that it will continue dry but it will be more cloudy, with highest temperatures of 11°C or 12°C.

With a dip in nighttime temperatures forecast to continue, the risk of grass tetany is likely to intensify. Read about risk factors and prevention here.

Moreover, with many farmers now making housing preparations, the longer housing is power-hosed and disinfected, the lower the risk will be of bacteria or viruses remaining in the environment.

And although ground conditions are good on most farms due to the weather, our dairy specialist Aidan Brennan recommends ceasing to graze the heavy covers and focus on grazing lighter covers, as cows will go through these faster and regrowths will also be faster.