Weather: Land is still very dry, but there is rain in the forecast for nearly every day next week. However, plenty of people have been getting out to sow oilseed rape which is great.

Last week’s rain helped with this. Catch crops planted early are also growing.

With rain in the forecast you need to make the most of planting opportunities in the coming days and opportunities to spray herbicides.

Soil moisture deficits on well-drained soils are still very high. In the main tillage areas, that deficit was going from about 30mm to about 50mm. It might not be there for long with the forecast for the coming week.

Planting: You can continue to plant oilseed rape where conditions are suitable and catch crops for ACRES. If you have interest in growing forage it is getting late, but crops like forage rye are a good option or a fast-growing brassica crop like rape or a rape/kale hybrid.

You need to send in your declaration form for the over-winter catch crops in the Farming for Water scheme by 8 September. That’s next Tuesday. Chat to your adviser if you’re not sure.

Looking at winter cereal crops, hybrid rye is a good option if you want to start planting early and you have a market for it. You can start planting rye from the middle of September.

However, you should not plant it in a field where grass weeds are an issue when planting so early. Some will say it is competitive, but delayed sowing is key to reducing germination of some problem weeds.

Recommended lists: On this week’s tillage pages we have the recommended lists for winter barley and winter wheat. There are three new winter barley varieties and no new wheat or oat varieties on the lists this year, but some varieties have been removed.

Take a look through the lists and see what suits your farm best. Look through earliness of ripening if you have large areas of crops. Check disease resistance for what affects you most, maybe its rust, maybe its septoria.

Use up: If you have the herbicide flufenacet in stock then you must use it up by 10 December 2026. If it is in your store after this and you get an inspection then you could receive a penalty. Flufenacet is an active ingredient contained in products like Firebird, Navigate and Kingston.

Crops forum: The Teagasc crops forum takes place on Thursday, 10 September at 2pm in The Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, Co Kildare. This year’s theme is “Protecting Margins through Smart Crop Planning”.

Tillage Day: Tillage Day is back for 2026. The event organised by the Irish Farmers Journal and supported by the Irish Seed Trade Association takes place on Thursday, 5 November in The Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, Co Kildare. It is a farmer-focused event and will have farmers, agronomists and industry representatives looking at positives changes that can be made to help the sector. Tickets go on sale on 9 September through the Irish Farmers Journal website.