Friday

Met Éireann has said that there will be some showers or rain at times on Friday, but overall there should be a lot of dry bright weather over the weekend and into next week too.

There'll be some nice sunshine at times and temperatures will pick up a little bit again.

Friday night will see some clear spells in the midlands and east for a time on Friday with any showers tending to die away, Met Éireann has said. Cloud will continue to build from the west, with outbreaks of showery rain spreading eastwards, though it will stay dry in eastern parts.

A clearance to isolated showers will start to move in along the west coast through towards morning. Lowest temperatures will range between 9°C and 12°C in light to moderate south or southwest winds, a little fresher for a time in western coastal parts.

Saturday

The showery rain will continue to spread eastwards on Saturday morning, but it will have cleared into the Irish Sea by the early afternoon, according to Met Éireann.

Drier and sunnier weather along the west coast from early on will follow to all parts. While there'll be a lot of dry weather for the rest of the day, a scattering of showers will develop through the afternoon and early evening, mainly in the midlands, east and north.

It'll become dry in most places through the evening. Highest temperatures of 21°C in light to moderate southerly winds veering west to northwesterly.

Saturday night will be dry with long clear spells, though with some mist and a few fog patches forming Met Éireann noted. High cloud will increase from the west through the night. Lowest temperatures of 7°C to 10°C in light westerly or variable breezes.

Sunday

Any mist or fog will clear early on Sunday, to leave a dry, bright day with long spells sunshine, according to Met Éireann. It's likely to become a little cloudier later, especially further west.

Highest temperatures of 17°C along the west coast, up to 22°C further east, in light to moderate southwest breezes are forecast, which will likely become a little fresher later in some western and northwestern coastal parts.

Sunday night is likely to stay dry in many areas with a mix of cloud and clear spells, however it will be cloudier further west and in the northwest with the chance of some rain and drizzle. Met Éireann has said. Lowest temperatures of 9°C, with light to moderate southerly winds, fresher along the western and northwestern coasts.

Management notes

Beef notes

In this week's beef section, Adam Woods takes a look at the criteria that needs to be met in order to achieve the 20c/kg in-spec bonus when slaughtering cattle, along with meal feeding dates and farm safety.

Sheep notes

Darren Carty discusses the demand for cull ewes and interest in good-quality store lambs in this week's sheep management notes.

He outlines two ways farmers can record permanent farm-to farm movements and also a hill farm walk which takes place in Co Sligo.

Dairy notes

In this week’s dairy management notes, Aidan Brennan looks at the new changes to the fertiliser rules and how farmers can work out their allowance.

He mentions ways farmers can reduce bloat as grass growth rates are up.

Tillage notes

Siobhán Walsh highlights every week should be Farm Safety Week and the importance of having PTO guards in good working order and that machinery is clean and greased before use.

She also discusses straw and stubble cultivation in this week’s tillage management section.