The last few weeks have been extremely frustrating for tillage farmers. In some parts of the country this week large amounts of work were completed.

However, large areas are still to be planted.  Heavy rain on Wednesday and Friday last, October 23 and 25, put a stop to work.

Yesterday, October 28, saw quite a bit of activity in fields again and as the season goes on and where opportunity allows – where ground conditions are good – farmers will persist with winter drilling as far into the season as possible.

The more land that is planted the better; otherwise that frustration may be carried on until next harvest as workload will be heavy at this time if a mix of crops – with different maturity dates – are not planted.

Some forecasts are predicting drier weather in early November and where farmers are looking to plant, the seedbed is more important than the sowing date. Well sown is half grown; it is much more important to plant into good ground conditions rather than plant on a specific date.

Ireland isn’t the only country struggling to plant. Farmers across Europe are behind in planting, while this ground may still be made up it is important to look at what’s going on around the world and consider your cropping options and future market.