In the fields: Temperatures have been mild recently but are to drop this week and temperatures may even go below zero in parts of the country early next week. This should help keep aphids under control. October-sown crops would generally be recommended to receive an aphicide in early November, but with frost this can probably be left out, especially with BYDV tolerant varieties. Early-sown crops might get away without a second aphicide in this weather. Slugs are still a possibility in the wet conditions. In the cold conditions make sure you have antifreeze in tractors and sprayers.

Take a walk around in the wet conditions and see are there areas holding water that need some drainage work in the drier weather. Maybe some drains need to be cleared. There are a good few bare patches across fields this week after the heavy rain. Most land is not trafficable now. Avoid travelling on wet fields or you will damage soil and you will be left with deep tramlines for the whole season.

Farm hazardous waste collections: Hazardous waste collections will take place in Ennis, Co Clare (12 Nov), Ratoath, Co Meath (20 Nov), Charleville, Co Cork (25 Nov), Holycross, Co Tipperary (28 Nov), Balla, Co Mayo (3 Dec) and Listowel, Co Kerry (9 Dec). If you have pesticides that are now banned, out of date or do not have an in-date PCS number then you should bring these products to a hazardous waste collection. You should not have these products in your chemical store, and if they are found in a cross-compliance inspection you could be subject to a penalty.

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ACRES: ACRES payments are due this week, so make sure yours has arrived and if it hasn’t check what the reason may be. Keep an eye that all payments are coming in. The Straw Incorporation Measure and the Protein Aid Measure are usually paid in December, while the there is no timeline for the tillage payment that we know of.

Farm safety scheme: This scheme has been extended to 21 November. The measure provides 60% grant aid up to a maximum eligible cost of €100 for up to four PTO shaft covers. You can find more information at www.gov.ie/farmsafety

Suspects weeds: Last week we published a story on cover crops seeds and the discovery of problem grass weeds in seed mixtures. Since then, we have received more reports of suspect samples. If you have seed you suspect contains grass weeds then please get in contact: swalsh@farmersjournal.ie

If you think you have planted cover crop seed that contained grass weeds then those fields will need to be sprayed off to prevent grass weeds that germinated from returning seed. Not all of the seeds will have germinated, so these fields will have to be watched rigorously for the next number of years. We are quickly losing control of grass weeds and many weeds are becoming resistant to herbicides, so if grass weeds are found on farms they need to be controlled before the problem gets out of hand.