While much of the Irish economic activity has stopped, farming has had the busiest week for many months. I suspect we are no different. With the sudden arrival of dry weather, we were at last able to get out and spread fertiliser on the hungry crops.

As I mentioned a fortnight ago, we took delivery of a full artic load of 10.10.20 plus sulphur equivalent in an effort to be ahead of the inevitable rush whenever the weather improved.

It left us relatively independent as we used the grain bucket to tip the fertiliser into the spreader. With the delay in my TAMS approval – it has since come through – we refurbished our old one over the winter and it seems to have worked perfectly. First treated was the oilseed rape, then the bleached winter barley and then the autumn-sown winter wheat.

We decided to try the beans ground which ploughed up better than I expected

At the same time, after a few dry days, we decided to try the beans ground which ploughed up better than I expected.

We left it over the weekend, harrowed to level it out on Monday, and spread the bulk 0.10.20 and began sowing on Tuesday. Hopefully, as I write, we will finish sowing and rolling while the dry weather lasts and get the herbicide out.

The only crops left to be treated are the February-sown winter wheat and the rest of the gluten-free oats that we couldn’t get sown in the autumn. Both crops were painfully slow to emerge but over the vast bulk of both crops, the field now has a satisfactory green hue. Though there are patches where the long water-logging seems to have rotted the seed completely.

It is noticeable how quickly modern drains have dried out

There is nothing I can do about those except to wonder whether some extra drainage should be put in to some of the fields. It is noticeable how quickly modern drains have dried out, some previous difficult spots compared with the very old system that lies under most of the place.

However, the immediate priority is to get some nutrients on to the February sown winter wheat and then to tackle what are essentially two different crops of gluten-free oats in the one field.

Conditions are ideal so hopefully within a week or so, the bulk of the cattle will be out full-time

I cannot see it becoming a uniform crop by harvest time but a lot of water has to flow under the bridges before then.

Meanwhile, we have begun grazing the bullocks by day. Even though we had the slurry under good control, the slatted tanks are coming under pressure again so we are grazing tightly and then going out with slurry.

Conditions are ideal so hopefully within a week or so, the bulk of the cattle will be out full-time and we can begin closing up for first-cut silage.