Weather: The weather outlook is fairly dry. There is an odd shower here and there, but any sunshine will be welcome for grain filling at this time of the year.

Get out to some crop walks in this fine weather and check out upcoming varieties. Crops and Technology, brought to you by the Irish Farmers Journal and Teagasc, is taking place on 25 June in Teagasc Oak Park from 10am. Check out the 10-page focus in this week’s paper to read what will be on show.

Potatoes: Blight pressure is high and potato farmers are well into their programmes. Teagasc’s updated programme has Infinito at spray four, Privest at spray five and Infinito at spray six when its moving into the stable canopy, followed by Zorvec Entecta. Make sure to discuss your plans with your adviser and try and get the best control and prevent resistance build up to fungicides.

Harvest preparation: Harvest is just around the corner for some crops of winter barley. Make sure that the combine is serviced and any repairs have been made. Check up on trailers, tyres and balers. Having them ready to go now might save time at harvest. Stay safe while fixing machinery.

Straw: It was great to get the positive news that all applicants will be accepted into the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) this year. The budget had been oversubscribed and those with poor spring crops might have been among the first out of the scheme, so this is good news in what is a tough season financially.

You can pull out of the scheme if that straw is required for livestock feeding, according to the Minister. He encouraged livestock and tillage farmers to engage in the coming weeks and sort out straw needs. You need to be getting paid at least the amount of the straw payment for those crops. Straw is valuable for the soil and for livestock farmers.

Farmers can contact the Department about the SIM by phoning the Direct Payments Helpline at 057-8674422 or emailing Tillage@agriculture.gov.ie.

Grass weeds: There are a lot of grass weeds visible in crops across the country. Many farmers are out rogueing crops these days to get these weeds under control. They will need to be pulled as soon as possible in winter crops to make sure they are not gone to seed. Some are still appearing over spring crops. Wild oats and blackgrass are noxious weeds, so you are legally required to get these under control.

However, brome, canary grass and others like Italian ryegrass should all be controlled as well. Take a look at pages 22-23 of this week’s paper to read and see pictures of how out of control Italian ryegrass and blackgrass can get.

Beans: Beans remain very clean in most places. Many are now losing their flowers. If you do want to put another fungicide on the crop then you should do it soon. You can apply Signum twice to a crop or you can use Elatus Era as an alternative option.