Weather forecast

It will be mostly cloudy today, with some light rain in the east and north, according to Met Éireann. It will be mainly dry elsewhere. It will be cool, with highest temperatures of 11°C to 15°C.

There will be some light rain tonight, but most areas will be dry. Temperatures will fall to between 5°C and 9°C.

In the news today

  • Ulster Bank is to sell €100m of agricultural loans as part of a total loan book sale of €2.5bn.
  • Diesel and wrap prices are combining to lift silage costs as the season starts.
  • Meanwhile, the TAMS II approval fiasco rumbles on again this week with no confirmed date when approvals will be issued.
  • The announcement of the €300,000 Mart Modernisation Scheme to assist in purchasing display screens has irritated mart managers.
  • This week powder intervention stocks reached the 218,000t threshold set by the EU Commission.
  • The Newford demonstration suckler herd is run on tight running costs to achieve maximum profitability.
  • The farmer we're profiling this week is Richard John Starrett, a dairy farmer from Lifford, Co Donegal.
  • Hereford bulls were in demand last week at the multi-breed sale in Kilkenny, where seven of the eight bulls on offer sold to average €3,100.
  • And antibiotics in cattle could increase greenhouse gas emissions, study finds.
  • Coming up today on farmersjournal.ie and on the app

  • MEPs quiz Phil Hogan on the dairy crisis
  • We report from the European Pig Producers’ conference in Dublin
  • What's on today

  • Teagasc reseeding demo in Co Mayo
  • To see what's coming up, visit our agri events calendar.