Thunderstorms which brought up to 18mm of rain on Monday of this week have contributed to strong grass growth in the northern half of the country. Farmers in the southern half are starting to struggle with grass growth slowing. There are a few reports of farmers feeding silage as grass growth has slowed considerably. See pages 42 and 43 for more.

Looking ahead, the conditions for growth are set to continue with showers and warm temperatures of 15°C to 20°C likely over the next seven days. Met Éireann has issued a status yellow potato blight warning which will last until this weekend. For more weather, see here.

This is putting massive demand on contractors to keep ahead of the grass growth. One contractor has reported to the Irish Farmers Journal that he has put 2,100ac of grass through his harvester in the past two weeks alone. Farmers and contractors are being urged to remain safe at this busy time. For more on contractor charges, see page 67.