The past two weeks or so have been pretty much a write off in terms of getting any work done on land in many parts of the country.

Over the weekend, farmers were busy collecting the last of this year’s silage and fertiliser spreaders were back going full tilt again – as both the weather and ground conditions improved.

Looking at the weather over the next five-to-seven days, it looks as if there will be opportunities for farmers to get back out on the land and complete some jobs.

According to Met Éireann, there will be outbreaks of rain, mainly in the middle of the week, but, in general, it looks as if there will be plenty of chances for farmers to get out and get work done. 

The main jobs that would have been tackled in the latter part of August would have been taking out any remaining surplus paddocks.

Many farmers got this out of the way over the weekend, but for those who have yet to do it, it would be best to do so this week if possible.

One job that farmers will be anxious to get going at, if they haven’t been able to do over the last while, is spreading fertiliser.

Considering that there are only two weeks left until the deadline for the spreading of chemical fertiliser comes into effect, farmers who have been restricted in what they have been able to spread, due to the poor weather conditions, should be aiming to get fertiliser spread this week if possible.

The quicker farmers can get fertiliser spread the better, as response rates will be greater the earlier it is spread – as long as weather conditions are good.