The past week provided some level of reprieve for the many hard-pressed tillage farmers with grain still to harvest.

The remainder of the harvest is now unquestionably a salvage operation, with more than half a tonne per acre reportedly left on the ground in fields that were harvested in the past week.

There is still a lot of grain to be harvested in the worst affected areas in the south, west and north.

It may not be tens of thousands of acres anymore, but some growers are still looking at almost their complete livelihood deteriorating in front of them in their fields.

And this is not just a scale issue, as many of the affected growers are quite small in scale and many others only have owned land to harvest.

For most growers the past week was mainly a case of grabbing every half chance.

Most of what has been salvaged was cut at moistures of above 25%, which is another penalty on income.

Quality has deteriorated substantially and sprouting is widespread in all cereals and worse in some varieties.

Grains are even sprouting on standing heads in fields in the south, where virtually continuous fog and mist continue to frustrate harvest efforts.

Some growers have made the decision to crimp individual fields as the level of germination would be unacceptable to their local intake.

In parts of the midlands, west and north poor ground conditions add a further obstacle to progress. So even the few occasional hours of salvage opportunity are frustrated by having to find areas where combines can travel.

Forum

Meanwhile, following calls from the IFA, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has created a forum of stakeholders within the tillage sector, as farmers continue to struggle this harvest. The meeting will take place on 6 October.