Ever fret because you’ve missed the farming forecast on RTÉ1 on a Sunday? Well, fret no more because Met Éireann has recently made its farming weather analysis text service available on its website, www.met.ie. The farming weather analysis page was launched in September and is aimed specifically towards those working in the agricultural sector. It provides a summary of the previous week’s weather and an outlook for the week ahead, with comments related to rainfall, temperature and sunshine.
Before its availability on the Met Éireann website, the analysis was only available as a fax product via Met Éireann’s weatherdial service.
According to Keith Lambkin, head of the Agricultural Meteorology Unit in Met Éireann, the weatherdial fax service will end on 1 November 2015 and “as a valued product”, the decision was made to continue offering this product on Met Éireann’s public website.
“A combination of this November deadline and our participation at the National Ploughing Championships last week were the primary factors in the timing of its online release,” he said.
The farming weather analysis is updated daily and provides a more detailed analysis of the weather conditions than Met Éireann’s regular national forecast.
For example, in its field conditions analysis, updated on Monday, the new farming weather page says “all except the heaviest soils are now trafficable and even poorly drained lands will become trafficable from Wednesday onwards. The long spell of benign weather will benefit all farming operations until at least Sunday.”
The page also links to agricultural-related weather maps and maps related to soil moisture deficits.
Met Éireann’s forecasters also offer opinions on the page related to drying conditions and best spraying opportunities.
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