The continuing spell of dry weather is allowing tillage farmers in Co. Donegal to get on with spring field work in earnest.

Hugh Kelly, who farms between Lifford and Saint Johnston in Co. Donegal, commented: “We will be starting to plough over the coming days. The plan is to have crops of spring barley and spring oats planted out as soon as possible thereafter.”

Hugh no longer grows winter crops, and stressed that they are too risky.

“Ground conditions can be tricky for me at planting time in the autumn,” he added.

Hugh’s land runs down to the shore of Lough Foyle. While he no longer grows winter cereals, many of his neighbours do.

“Most of the winter crops sown out in my locality have established well,” the Donegal farmer explained.

“But the biting wind and night frosts of recent days have taken the shine off some. What we need now is a bit of heat to get the spring back on track."

Meanwhile in Co. Mayo, tillage farmers are starting to take in an interest in spring beans. As is the case in other parts of the country, interest in beans on the part of tillage has been driven by the availability of the Protein Aid Scheme.

It is estimated that payments linked to the government support measure will amount to €500/ha in 2025.

Balla-based contractor Fintan Murray planted out a crop of the legume for a customer based close to Claremorris a few days ago.

“The beans followed a crop of spring oats. This is the first time that I have had the opportunity to directly assess beans. So, it will be really interesting to see how the crop progressed over recent weeks,” Murray said.

Murray is quick to confirm that 12 months can make a huge difference when it comes to the conditions that Irish tillage farmers find themselves working in.

Twelve months ago most of the farm land in Mayo was totally unworkable on the back of heavy rains that had started the previous autumn.

“I plan to start ploughing my own ground over the coming days. The plan is to get spring barley into the ground as quickly as possible,” Murray said.

Last August, torrential rains swept across all of Ireland’s western counties. At that stage, Murray thought his 2024 barley harvest would turn out to be nothing more than a salvage job.

 He had even thought of baling the cereal as a wholecrop at one stage. However, the weather did turn in his favour eventually and the crops were successfully combined.