Weather: No one needs to be told that its hot this week and the crops certainly know it. The sunshine is good for grain fill and there is moisture in the ground. It doesn’t take long for fields to get mucky in the rain, but too hot and crops could come in too quickly. It’s a fine balance.

One thing you shouldn’t be doing is spraying. Current temperatures are far too hot to spray in and while it has been cooler at night it is still very warm and crops can suffer from stress in the heat. That said, by the time you are reading this we should be near the end of the heatwave. Finish off any final sprays next week.

Beans: Some of you are travelling in beans these days. Assess how the fungicide has benefited your crops in recent years and consider the date you drilled crops on. I’d prefer to be cutting in late September or early October than looking at a wet crop in November.

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Walk crops: Now is the time of the year to walk crops. Winter crops should be the first to be examined for how agronomy decisions went during the year and for weeds. Have you broad-leaved or grass weeds present? Have you got resistant speedwell, poppies, chickweed or other weeds? Why are they there? What products did you use?

Grass weeds all need to be pulled. There are grass weeds visible across the country, be it brome, wild oats, Italian ryegrass, blackgrass, canary grass, meadow grass and many more. Pull these weeds when they are in small numbers and in the coming days before they go to seed. Some have gone to seed. Be under no illusions there is no control for these weeds in a can. It will take rogueing, crop rotation, herbicides, stale seedbeds, rotational ploughing and other tactics to get them under control. Map where the weeds are and develop a strategy to get them under control. What crop can be sowed next year, can you create a few stale seedbeds? A little work now might save you a lot of time and money in the future.

Schemes: Farmers are still awaiting confirmation of acceptance into the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM). The budget is well exceeded at current figures. In the past the money has always been found and with tillage under such pressure and area dropping you would hope the money will be found once again. The protein payment looks in good shape. It’s expected to be over €500/ha. These schemes are very important for incomes at present, as will the cover crop measure for those who can avail of it in the coming months.

Varieties: Now is the time to be thinking about varieties for next year. Chat with other farmers on what they have been growing and how they have got on with them. They will want to know what you are growing as well. Once harvest comes you can keep an eye on how different varieties do as well. We’ll have all the news from the variety open days in a special focus on 9 July.