Both potato and cereal growers are confirming that the heavy rains preceding Storm Amy have brought field work to a halt for the foreseeable future.

Some parts of the country received up to a month’s rain over recent days, leaving ground conditions extremely sticky.

In the case of potato growers, it could take at least 10 days before they can venture out with heavy harvesting equipment. And this is assuming that the rains hold off in this period.

For tillage farmers wanting to drill winter crops, the wait to get on with field work again may be slightly shorter.

The good news is that Met Éireann is forecasting a week and possibly beyond of relative dry weather as high pressure starts to build over the country.

Temperatures during this period are also predicted to rise somewhat.

Approximately, 20% of the 2025 potato harvest has been completed up to this point.

Packers and growers are indicating that the rest of this year’s crop could be lifted and put in store within a fortnight, assuming the weather and ground conditions play their part.

Growers are reporting that potato yields have held up remarkably well despite the very dry growing year.

However, issues relating to bruising and scab are apparent in some of the crops harvested over the last week or so.

Meanwhile, very few winter cereal crops have been drilled as yet.

The story up to now has been quite patchy. We know that winter oilseed rape planting levels are well up on 2024 levels, with most crops establishing well.

Meanwhile, September saw a significant area of winter rye drilled in many parts of the country.

October is the key month in the autumn calendar when it comes to the establishment of winter barley and wheat crops.

But given the current state of ground conditions, it may well be the latter part of the month before growers will attempt to get these crops into the ground.

The coming days will see most of Ireland’s merchants confirming their 2025 grain prices.

This comes at a time when international grain and oilseed markets remain in the doldrums.

The world is pretty much awash with cereals at the present time, with the US in particular expecting very large crops of maize and soya to be harvested in 2025.

So, Irish cereal producers will be tempering their own price expectations accordingly.