Despite the prospect of rainfall levels over the main tillage areas being lower than usual over the coming days, last Saturday’s rain has totally focussed farmers’ minds on the absolute need to get crops into the ground now.

Parts of the north-east received up to 40mm of rain the weekend of September 20-21. And the impact this had on ground conditions is significant.

Growers do not want a repeat of two years ago where heavy October and November rains washed away any opportunity of getting winter crops into the ground.

A key lesson from harvest 2025 has been the inherent profitability of winter cereals, provided these crops get a good start.

Assuming the weather plays its part, new opportunities of producing higher yielding winter cereals in Ireland continue to present themselves.

Where winter wheat is concerned, the 2025/2026 recommended lists that are produced by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine reference a number of new varieties, all offering the hope of performing well under Irish conditions.

And, where winter barley is concerned, the growing availability of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) tolerant is more than significant.

From almost a standing start a few seasons ago, BYDV tolerance will feature within approximately 55% of the winter barley seed planted out.

The recent growth in the area of winter oilseed rape will also have positive implications for the cereal sector this year.

Given its role as a break crop, rape paves the way for first wheats - the most profitable cereal crops that can be grown in this country.

It will be interesting to see how much hybrid rye will be drilled in Ireland this autumn.

According to Teagasc, tillage farmers already committed to the crops will stick with it.

The acreage of the crop has grown exponentially over recent year, admittedly from a very small base.

However, there is a genuine expectation that new growers will look seriously at hybrid rye for 2025/2026.

At a very fundamental level, it helps to balance out the workload within their businesses. And markets can be found for the crop, even if this is in the form of farm-to-farm sales.

Meanwhile, Met Éireann is confirming that Ireland will lie between a zone of high pressure over Scandinavia and low pressure in the Atlantic over the coming days.

As a consequence, weather conditions are expected to be mixed and changeable.

Rainfall totals are forecast to be below normal across the east and south of the country and near or above normal across the west and north.

Mean air temperatures are predicted to be close to the seasonal average.