Brighter days

It could not be more perfect for ploughing, tilling, sowing and rolling, and looking at the grass plans for the upcoming season. We are on a winner when it comes to perfect crop establishment and we are now weeks ahead of ourselves compared to the last few years.

It’s funny though, I spoke to a machinery dealer recently and he said the weather is too fine for farmers and contractors to be enquiring about machinery. “They are too busy working, it’s great to see it. But I could do with a drop of rain to slow things down,” he said. You can imagine my answer to him – obviously not printable! As the fella says, ‘let the dog see the hare and plough on ‘til the rain falls’. And trust me, it will. A friend in the UK told me they are also, for the first time in a while, ahead of themselves in planting crops. Good news on all fronts.
Now, a quick sweep on what’s popping up nearer to home. Weanlings are hitting an all-time high, which is good news. Beef prices are jumping on the back of a tight supply, and sheep prices are also on the up. Milk prices remain stable and nitrates in Irish rivers are reducing – great news and well done to all our farmers for continuing to work hard on this.

Then, we have the Macra presidential campaign intensifying, and it looks like an interesting Irish presidential campaign is in store, too. Will Mairead McGuinness run? I sincerely hope so.
It’s interesting to see proposals – included in a recently published organic sector report commissioned by Teagasc – to promote the sharing of machinery and labour in the tillage and horticulture sectors, as well as processing facilities in the fruit and veg, and tillage sectors. These may well be viable options going forward, and I totally agree with Teagasc on this plan.
On the tillage front, the ban in the EU on beet herbicide, Debut, is cause for concern as there doesn’t seem to be an available alternative just yet. Some other EU countries have secured a derogation, and it seems that similar is being sought by Ireland. Let’s see what happens. 

Boortmalt has made a forward price offer of €240/t to farmers for the 2025 season for malting. It’s an offer…now let’s watch it. Contractors’ charges are to rise by 5 per cent for 2025 – no surprises there! They provide an excellent service they should be paid for the value they provide to the farming industry. The telescopic market in Ireland has exploded this year with 102 new machines. This is a 70 per cent increase year on year.

Well, my friends, that’s it for this month! Until the next, farm wisely and farm safely.

DONT FORGET! The Irish Farm Machinery & Equipment Yearbook 2025 will be available in newsagents very soon! If you can’t find it, get in touch with us and we will sort you out!