Weather forecast

Thursday will be bitterly cold, according to Met Éireann. There will be some rain or sleet (snow on higher ground) in parts of the south at first, clearing in the morning. Otherwise it will be a bright day with sunny spells and occasional showers of hail, sleet and snow. These will be heavy and thundery, especially in the west and north. Afternoon temperatures of 2°C to 4°C, in moderate to fresh westerly winds.

In the news today

  • Farmers lost €150m due to the fall in sterling as agri-food exports fell by €570m following the Brexit vote.
  • Despite Brexit, Irish food and drink exports grew for the seventh year in a row, reaching €11.15bn in 2016.
  • Meanwhile, farm income last year was just 70% of what it was in 2000, according to the IFA’s Farm Income Review.
  • As revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal two weeks ago, all farmers who applied to the third round of GLAS will be accepted.
  • Managing financial risk, finding out your optimum stocking rate and starting up a farm business from scratch were the highlights of the first day of the Positive Farmers Conference.
  • In this week’s podcast we discuss Bord Bia’s export figures for 2016, learn about the Schmallenberg virus, find out how dairy farmers can increase profits by 30% and talk about the new €10/ewe scheme.
  • Fianna Fáil’s agriculture spokesman Charlie McConalogue has again called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to provide ring-fenced funding for tillage farmers.
  • Coming up on farmersjournal.ie

  • We report from the second day of the Positive Farmers conference
  • The latest agri-jobs in Ireland
  • What’s on today

  • Positive Farmers conference in Co Cork
  • South Tipp IFA county executive meeting
  • Information meeting on €10/ewe scheme
  • For more information on these events, see our agri-events calendar