There have been plenty of showers in recent days and in some parts of the country, rain has been so heavy it has brought cattle back into sheds having been turned out to grass.

Across well-drained and poorly drained soils, there is currently huge variation in soil moisture levels.

Looking at the Met Éireann website, well-drained soils are at soil moisture deficit (SMD) figures of 31, 25 and 18 in the east of the country. Meaning 31mm, 25mm and 18mm of rain in the respective areas would bring the soil to field capacity. These figures move to 2, 3 and 5 along the west coast, hitting field capacity with a reading of 0 at Malin Head.

Moderately-drained soils follow a similar pattern, with figures of 6, 21, 15 and 31 in the midlands.

However, poorly-drained soils tell a much different story. In the east of the country, SMD figures are still high, but moving to the west coast, those soils are into the minus figures with 0, -3, -6 and -8 reported. So, these soils are at field capacity and 3mm, 6mm and 8mm over field capacity respectively.

On poorly-drained soils in Dublin, SMD figures are reading as high as 34.

This puts figures behind the reports of animals being brought back into sheds and the contrasting situations on farms across the country at present.