Friday

Met Éireann has forecast a mostly dry day for Friday.

Cloud will gather later in the day in the southwest, with a chance of scattered showers, some turning heavy and thundery.

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Highest temperatures will range from 15°C to 20°C and the warmer temperatures will be in the west of the country.

East and south coasts will be cooler, with light to moderate southeasterly winds, fresher in the southwest.

Friday night will be mainly dry and clear. It will be cloudier in the southwest, with a possibility of some showers in the west and thunderstorms possible.

Temperatures will reach lows of 2°C to 7°C, milder in the southwest region, with light easterly or variable breezes.

Saturday

“There will be a mix of cloud and sunny spells, the best of which will be in the north and east,” Met Éireann has said.

Some isolated showers may occur, with some turning heavy or thundery. Temperatures will see highs of 14°C to 19°C in southeasterly or variable breezes, cooler near coasts.

It will be a mostly dry night on Saturday, with some cloud and clear spells. Isolated showers may occur and lowest temperatures will be 5°C to 9°C in light variable breezes.

Sunday

Sunday will be dry for most, with the odd shower of rain. Plenty of sunshine is forecast for the day, becoming more widespread later in the day. Highest temperatures of 14°C to 18°C are expected with light variable breezes.

Next week

Currently, Met Éireann are indicating that next week will remain fine and mild, with high pressure to continue dominating into the week.

We will continue to see largely dry conditions, with temperatures reaching the mid to high teens.

There is some uncertainty for Monday, according to Met Éireann. However, it is likely to be another mostly dry day, with spells of sunshine and some isolated showers.

Temperatures will vary with highs of 15°C to 19°C in light variable breezes.

Management notes

Beef

Martin Merrick discusses some key tasks to be completed, with grass buyers having to purchase stock to satisfy ANC, breeding kicking off and controlling weeds in grassland swards.

Dairy

Aidan Brennan has some advice for farmers spreading fertiliser on silage ground over the coming days, a look at the next generation herd trial from Moorepark and whether farmers should delay the start of calving by a few days for next spring ahead of breeeding.

Sheep

Darren Carty highlights the importance of checking ewe hoggets before selling in terms of sheep having their teeth set or at risk of proving in-lamb. He also discusses marketing spring lambs and spreading fertiliser to build grass supplies.

Tillage

Siobhán Walsh says there’s a lot to catch up on, with the sowing of all spring crops the priority. She warns to be careful of plant stress when applying aphicides and growth regulators. She also looks at T1s for wheat and to plant winter bird food by the deadline of 15 May.