The past week has seen more progress on spring crop planting than all of the past three months. But the situation is very variable, with individual growers in a number of counties now finished spring planting while others have little or nothing done.

Some land has been very slow to dry out, while frequent rainfall has continued to cause severe problems in other areas. Grower frustration is palpable. Some growers told the Irish Farmers Journal that their April rainfall varied between 140mm and 180mm in parts of Cork and Waterford, with as little as one day without rain in the month.

In these areas there was little more than 10% of the spring crops planted at the start of this week. Fallow is now being seriously considered for the first time.

The situation in Wexford is broadly similar, with no more than 10% of the area planted on the heavier land in the south and east of the county. April rainfall levels were much lower (76mm at Johnstown Castle), which enabled growers on lighter land to plant but the heavier ground just did not dry out sufficiently. Wexford was probably no more than one-third planted as we enter May. Even less progress may have been made in Cork overall.

Concern

Other areas fared better in the past week, with some light land areas now finished planting. But there is still reason for concern over the quality of seedbeds in many recently sown crops.

The fact that fallow is being considered reflects the seriousness of the situation. Every hectare not planted will mean the loss of 7t of grain and every 4ha not planted will result in the loss of 100 bales of straw. So the planting problems will have a knock-on effect through the whole of agriculture.

While the overall area sown to spring barley may be up on last year, it seems likely that overall grain production will be down. This will depend on how many hectares transfer to forage crops.

It is highly likely that average yield levels will be down and the same could apply to straw. As a result, growers are talking about straw prices between €15 and €30 per 4x4 round bale.