Weather: some farmers in the northwest were making the most of the drier weather in that part of the country which is good to see.

That area of the country usually gets more rain than everywhere else so they were using the time to get some spraying done and other jobs. However, wet weather has halted progress now.

In the rest of the country, floods are soaking away and land is drying out at present but it is still saturated in many areas and with showery weather in the forecast it could be a while before land is ready for planting, spraying and all the other jobs.

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Earlier this week, well-drained soils in Donegal were just below field capacity, but have now reached field capacity, while the rest of the country was at field capacity. Poorly drained soils were saturated.

In the coming week there looks to be more showery weather in the forecast, but it looks like it will be much drier than recently and there is a drier outlook in the forecast for the end of February and early March.

Fertiliser: you will need fertiliser on hand for winter crops so get ordering in the coming days if you haven’t already.

Prices are reported to have moved up and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) tax is set to hit prices this year as well, driving up the cost of production. There looks to be no halt to this or no one talking about it to try to stop it.

The tax will see Irish farmers pay a tax on fertiliser produced outside of the EU, while grain comes in freely from outside of the EU with no tax, produced from fertiliser that does not carry the CBAM tax.

Many of you are asking about the €30m support for tillage announced in Budget 2026. We have no date for payment on this, but it is to be paid in the first six months of the year with an intention to pay it as soon as possible. An application form will need to be filled out, but we have no details on payment amounts or how they will be divided out. This is causing issues for farmers purchasing seed and fertiliser for the season ahead.

The Farming for Water payment is also delayed and some farmers are due a good chunk of money from this scheme. These schemes are now a big part of farm income.

Live Podcast: on 26 February the Irish Farmers Journal will record its Tillage Podcast live at the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society’s spring workshop.

On the panel will be farmer and ITLUS president Craig England; David Kennedy, head of dairy markets at Bord Bia; John Metcalfe, an agronomist and ITLUS member and Pat O’Toole, political correspondent with the Irish Farmers Journal. The Podcast will close out the day which will see two farm visits in the morning and a talk on the proposition of a new flour mill in Wexford.

The farm visits will be to Environmental Sustainability Farmer of the Year Don Somers and a trip to Slaney Farms who bring produce from field to shop shelf. To attend on the day email itlussec50@gmail.com.