2019 has come to an end and many farmers would be forgiven for remembering it as a challenging year for weather.

This is certainly the case for the second half of the year. However, despite a slow start in some places, the first half of 2019 proved to be an excellent year for growth and ground conditions.

Let’s take a look back at the weather over the past 12 months.

January

The year got off to a somewhat backward start. January and February were unseasonably dry for many and temperatures reached highs of 16°C in places.

Much of January saw good dry days and night time temperatures of 5°C to 8°C.

The unusually mild weather generated more debate on spreading fertiliser, with fields getting visibly greener earlier and grass growth taking place.

As a result, once the appropriate dates had passed, slurry and chemical fertiliser were applied earlier than normal in some locations. There was also a lot of early field work done, such as ploughing and spraying.

However, the end of January marked the return of cooler weather, with some rain, hail, frost, sleet and even snow making an appearance, as temperatures ranged between -2°C and 2°C.

Rainfall on most farms was below average for the time of year. The exception being the east of the country, which received up to 120% of the norm in places.

February

February saw Storm Erik sweep across counties Donegal, Mayo and Galway, bringing gusts of up to 130km/h. Weather warnings stayed in place for a couple of days. This was followed by low temperatures, which brought widespread frost and temperatures down to -3°C.

Despite the cooler conditions, by the second week of February there was an abundance of grass on farms, so cows were let out day and night if conditions were dry enough.

Grass growth in February 2019.

With heavy frost in parts of the country, vigilance was advised around feeding forage crops. It was not recommended to feed these frozen crops, as sudden deaths could occur from feeding. Rainfall amounts remained below average for most parts of the country.

There was an amount of sowing done in February.

Due to the mild winter, where fertiliser hadn’t been applied, winter crops were looking hungry. By the end of the month, the first of the spring cereals were being sown in parts of the country.

March

Winter appeared to arrive as spring was set to begin, when snow and sleet in early March brought the prospect of any field work to a stop.

Ground conditions soon turned wet. The first week of the month saw very cold daytime temperatures, but there were long sunny spells mixed with wintry showers.

The western seaboard bore the brunt of the wet weather, with accumulated rainfall levels for the first two weeks in March exceeding 90mm in some parts. That’s more than what fell in the whole month of February. Many animals were brought indoors for the month.

Towards the end of the month, ground began to dry and growers were chomping at the bit to get some work done. Recent sunshine and heat drove growth and earlier crops moved well into stem extension. Hungry crops look hungrier.

In general, active disease levels were low, but there was a lot of old mildew about and there was also an amount of yellow, brown and crown rust infections which needed to be watched.

Early-sown spring crops emerged well. The main jobs needed to be done were weed control and growth regulation and T1s on winter barley.

Grass was in abundant supply on farms by the end of the month. The Irish Farmers Journal also launched its own weather station network that month.

April

Dry conditions returned in April and brought with it a burst of field work. Total rainfall for the first seven days was less than 5% of the average amount of rainfall which would be expected for the time of year.

April

Dry conditions returned in April and brought with it a burst of field work. Total rainfall for the first seven days was less than 5% of the average amount of rainfall which would be expected for the time of year.

Good daytime temperatures helped land to dry and soak and there was a good bit of drilling going on at the start of the month.

Forward rape crops needed their remaining nitrogen applied, as flowers were very evident at this time.

April also saw a plume of Saharan dust make its way 3,000km northwest to Ireland.

April’s weather then settled down considerably, due to an extensive high pressure area developing across Scandinavia and much of mainland EU, bringing very mild, warm and sunny conditions into the Easter weekend.

Many parts of the country had finished sowing spring cereals by 17 April, so the attention turned to planting maize, potatoes and spring rape. Temperatures rose considerably that week and many areas saw highs of up to 20°C during Easter weekend.

However, field work came to a halt at the end of the month with the onset of wet and windy weather.

May

May got off to a dry bright start, but rain showers became widespread and heavy by the end of the first week.

Temperatures of -1°C to 2°C were recorded in places at the start of the month, which slowed crop development. It was also the likely cause of some blank grain issues in winter barley crops this year.

Crop disease levels were low in winter cereals, but aphids were easily found in crops of spring barley which were planted since late March and needed to be treated.

We also saw great weather for the Balmoral Show in Co Down in mid-May.

The weather broke in the middle of the month in places, although this didn’t amount to much.

Ironically, we saw some farmers around the country looking for a decent spill of rain or a soft day. Not a common sentiment for the third week of May, where rain normally spells trouble.

Average grass growth rates were beginning to decrease by 20 May. Grass was growing at a rate of 80kg to 90kg/day the week before, but had decreased to 60kg to 70kg/day in the space of a week due to moisture stress.

Soil moisture deficits were above 40mm to 55mm over parts of Munster and Connacht during this time. Elsewhere, soil moisture deficits were around 30mm to 35mm.

However, May did present lots of good silage-making weather.

May was the driest month of the year and Met Éireann records indicate that rainfall for most tillage regions ranged from one-third to half the normal monthly rainfall level.

However, across the north, rainfall totals came in higher, with 30% to 70% of the usual rainfall recorded here.

Oak Park in Co Carlow experienced its driest May since 1991, receiving just 14.1mm of rain all month.

The end of the month saw more unsettled weather, with cooler and fresher conditions returning.

The wet weather continued into June, causing a challenge for farmers and contractors who were lifting silage.

The mixed weather in June was due to a weaker jet stream over Ireland, explained climatologist John Sweeney from Maynooth University who spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal.

Parts of the country were in for a very wet month

By 20 June, winter wheat crops were at various stages of flowering and spring barley was heading to flowering.

A few fine, warm and bright days were just what the doctor ordered. We also saw the first crops of winter barley begin to turn in parts of the country.

Luckily, the weather improved towards the end of the month for the Crops and Spreaders event in Teagasc Oak Park.

A good growing year also lead to large crops of hay and silage.

July

The 2019 cereal harvest kicked off around 10 July and for many growers, their winter barley harvest went fairly smoothly. While yields disappointed, progress was steady until the last week of the month, where broken weather settled in once again.

The sun also shone at this year's Irish Farmers Journal Tullamore Farm open day on 22 July.

When broken weather returned, little did growers know that that would mark the end of the settled weather for the rest of the year.

August

Self-styled weather guru Ken Ring predicted that August would be wet - and he wasn’t far off.

As a consequence of a few dry months, soil moisture deficits were between 30mm and 50mm over much of Leinster and Munster, but were lower elsewhere at the start of August.

However, Mother Nature soon sought to correct this and Met Éireann issued a status yellow rainfall waning for these regions on 8 August.

During the first two weeks of August, weather conditions deteriorated significantly, with prolonged periods of heavy, thundery rain in a lot of areas. This weather took its toll on ground conditions.

Flooded spring barley in Donegal, August 2019.

Luckily, the weather held for the Tullamore Show.

The weather was very awkward for harvesting, but winter barley was virtually completed and winter oats were well under way by 8 August. The emerging problems with winter barley straw remaining unbaled on the ground were beginning to materialise at this stage.

We also saw substantial lodging, with areas in Meath and Tipperary particularly badly affected. Lodged areas of spring barley and winter wheat began to sprout. There was also a small amount of sprouting reported in standing wheat crops.

The last weekend of August was a blessing in the sky weather-wise for many growers and a huge amount of harvest work was done.

By the end of the month, progress ranged from about 50% cut towards the northwest, where weather had been much less agreeable, to over 80% cut across much of the rest of the country.

Some areas in the south were well inside the last 5% of their cereal harvest. Oilseed rape planting was completed in largely good conditions.

September

September 2019 will be remembered for the incredible few days of weather which coincided with the National Ploughing Championships, where blue skies and sunshine dominated.

However, the first week of the month saw some contrasting weather. In the west and northwest, rainfall amounts were well above normal.

Between 40mm and 80mm fell over a 24-hour period in some places. However, much of Leinster and east Munster had below-normal rainfall amounts over the week.

The week of the Ploughing, with highs of 22°C, allowed many of the remaining acres of cereals to be harvested. There was many thousands of tonnes of straw remaining on the ground at that stage.

The weather broke again after the ploughing and hasn’t settled since. Heavy rain at the end of the month caused some spot flooding in places and took its toll on ground conditions. Soil temperatures were generally between 1°C and 3°C above average for that time of year.

By the end of the month, many growers were finished harvesting their cereals, but there was still a little cutting to be done in areas that had poor weather.

October

Weather conditions at the start of October made grazing and field work very difficult in a lot of areas. There was much talk on the implications of incoming storm Lorenzo, with several wind warnings issued across the country.

However, despite days of warnings, little damage was done.

Wet weather really played havoc on winter sowing and potato harvesting during October. Only 30% of the national potato crop had been harvested by the end of the month.

Consistent rain during the month meant that around 50% of 2018’s winter cereal area was planted. During the month, there were still amounts of cereals and bean crops to be harvested.

Some growers availed of a short window in the last week of the month to make some progress. However, frosty nights caused some concern for potato growers who still had some acres left to harvest.

November

November offered no let-up with the weather. While rainfall amounts were variable around the country, very few areas had been able to get a clear run at work for any more than two to three days.

The general condition of planted crops depended very much on when they were planted. Crops planted in good conditions got a reasonable chance, whereas those planted later and in poor conditions really struggled to get up.

Wet spots and springs really began to appear in all fields this autumn, which caused crop loss in those areas.

Ground conditions improved somewhat towards the end of the month. Ploughs came back out in places and there was some planting done. Conditions were marginal at best.

November saw the first frost warning of the season - for Connacht, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary.

The weather forecaster warned of “very cold” air temperatures ranging from -4°C to 2°C . This warning was shortly followed by a weather warning for rainfall.

The remainder of the potato harvest was a real struggle for growers, but some progress was made during the month.

However, some areas fared out better than others.

December

December saw some very cold and frosty nights, with some snow on high ground. Ground conditions failed to improve significantly after months of wet weather, but some field work was still going on.

While crops have been very slow to emerge, many did come through and the establishment may have been better than had been anticipated. The low soil temperature may have helped with this.

The month saw several rainfall and wind warnings in place and the onset of storm Elsa.

Irish Farmers Journal Sencrop weather station network

The Irish Farmers Journal Sencrop weather station network saw 24 weather stations placed on 12 farms across the country during 2019. Check out the rainfall data across the 12 stations from April to 18 December below.