Harvest nearing an end: Recent good weather in most, but not all, parts of the country has helped bring harvest to a close. However, there is still some cereal to be harvested across north Leinster and up in the northern counties but a good forecast should see this completed this week.

Most tillage parts of the country received very little rain over the past week, with Met Éireann amounts ranging from 0.4mm at Roches Point to 11.9mm in Gurteen. But the definite outliers were 17mm at Mount Dillon and a whopping 58.8mm in Malin Head in Donegal. While most parts of the country are now at 75% plus of normal annual rainfall, it may be worth mentioning that Dublin airport, Oak Park, Johnstown Castle and Moorepark are currently only on 65% to 67% of normal and so there may be ‘extra’ rain to fall in those regions in the coming months.

Straw is nearly all wrapped up now too across the southern half of the country and there should be very little left on the ground anywhere by the end of this week. Straw volumes remained low and decisions must now be made to chop or bale bean straw. If you have a customer then consider baling, if not turn on the chopper. The crop after beans is a premium cropping slot so you do not want to risk not getting it planted with straw in the way.

Early reports from the bean harvest are variable but somewhat disappointing with 1.0t/ac to 2.25t/ac reported, at moistures that varied from 19% to 26% and even higher.

Planting: Notwithstanding the need to get a proportion of a big acreage sown early, oilseed rape should still be considered before moving on to cereals and on land that carries a higher risk for later planting. While time is running out for oilseed rape, it remains an option for warmer areas of the south for the rest of this week. It also remains a safer option than very early sown cereals for much of the country.

As we move into week 38, it is inevitable that there will be some planting of winter wheat and barley. Selecting a BYDV tolerant barley variety like KWS Joyou will lessen the risk from this virus but it will do nothing to reduce pressure from grassweeds if you are drilling into a field that has high background pressure from weeds like sterile brome or blackgrass. Stale seedbeds and later planting are the only ways to help reduce pressure in these fields.

Catch crops: While the 15 September deadline is now behind us, growers planting catch crops for GLAS or greening commitments should still get them planted as soon as possible. There is no derogation for late planting as such, but the Department recognises the problems achieving timely planting in some fields that are either just harvested or cleared of straw.

The main thing is to get these crops planted now, because the benefit lies in growing a big bulk of biomass. If you have been caught by the 15 September deadline, you are advised to contact the relevant section of the Department with details of the parcels not yet sown. These will be reviewed on a case by case basis.