The harvest rumbles on for a number of farmers. Large areas of spring beans are still to be cut, but many of these were sown late and were not ready to be cut up until now.

More concerning is the spring cereal crops left in fields. Wet weather since the middle of last week has prevented harvesting of these crops, which are breaking down every day.

Wexford looks to be one of the counties with a large amount of spring cereals still to be cut.

Straw remains on the ground in many parts of the country with volunteer cereals and grass growing around these rows of straw.

The wet conditions are also making it difficult for some to plant catch crops under ACRES ahead of the extended deadline of 30 September.

Winter planting

Meanwhile, farmers in the northwest made a good start at winter cereal planting and preparation over the weekend, and in some other parts of the country.

However, heavy rain has left many fields in poor condition and this now looks like it will delay winter cereal planting well into October, as significant drying is needed before cultivations are carried out in many areas.