Hardy weather: As we move into a spell of hardy weather once again, it is worth noting that the last two weeks of December helped to pull most Met Éireann stations closer to their long-term average annual rainfall levels.

There was no clear pattern to rainfall in 2021 – most areas were below their 30-year average, while some were above.

Most of the eastern side of the country was below average, but Johnstown Castle (during a wet December) and Roches Point (during a very wet October) had a wetter than average year.

Up along the west coast, some areas were wetter while others were drier than average. For most areas, 2021 was also the driest of the past three years.

The standout station was in the middle, with Gurteen having nine of the last 12 months drier than their long-term average value.

Its 2021 rainfall came in 154.8mm under its 30-year long-term average of 948.2mm.

Field work: There is relatively little to be done on land for the time being, as virtually all the spraying is done, it is too early to sow and it is far too early for fertiliser (unless there is a bit of additional potash to be applied to some fields).

One of the few jobs that might be considered is the rolling of catch crops during frosty conditions to help kill many of the species present.

Many catch crops are very bulky this year from the growthy autumn and this will have to be tackled ahead of where ploughing is to be done.

Rolling during frosty conditions is generally a good way to kill many species and to help take the bulk out of the vegetation without the use of chemicals.

The plants need to be well frozen to be killed and some species will be killed by frost even without rolling. Frosty conditions would also make it safer to take machinery out on land currently.

Crop condition: Crops are generally in good to very good condition and this opens an opportunity to save a little on early season nitrogen.

Some of the earliest-sown crops are quite bulky yet again, but even late-sown crops have established and grown very well over winter.

While some early crops are very forward in terms of growth stage, we would do well to remember the problems that occurred last year when plant growth regulators were applied in cold conditions that got even colder post-application.

So keep PGRs in the store for the moment. While we are getting some intermittent growth, this may add to the risks posed by cold post-application.

Winter oilseed rape: Most crops are very forward with a big canopy. This provides an opportunity to significantly decrease early season nitrogen application, possibly by as much as 100kg N/ha where a canopy is most of the way towards a green area index of 3.0-3.5 at the start of spring growth.

This could mean that the max allowable rate of 225kg N/ha could possibly be reduced to 120-140kg N/ha to help overall farm costs.