The continuing dry weather across most of the country has seen a flying start to the silage season.
While forage harvesters and balers would be expected to appear in Cork or Kilkenny around the May bank holiday, the sight of silage being cut in Cavan and Monaghan in any volume is unprecedented.
The west and northwest, where the worst of weather occurs so often, are similarly enjoying the dry conditions.
With many of the dry days adding hours of sunshine, grass was being mowed in ideal conditions.
Some pockets of the country have missed out on the best of the weather, west Cork in particular, where the rain was described on Wednesday as “coming in sideways”, and cold.
Tillage farmers, having welcomed last week’s rain, are trying to spray when fresh winds calm enough, and are concerned that those same winds are drying ground out quickly.
Farmers who cut grass will want a bit of rain to wash in slurry and/or granulated fertiliser.
Met Éireann is predicting colder weather ahead, with temperatures on Sunday forecast to only reach around 8°C, and recovering only to the low teens in the early days of next week. Rainfall will still be limited.
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