Drought 2020

Danzy · 10-05-2020 9:18pm

Shaking extra now after the rain, letting covers build a bit higher in fields.

SouthWesterly · 10-05-2020 9:22pm

Base price wrote: »

Not a drop fell here and we're about 7 miles from you as the crow flies.

Had 20mm in an hour. Friends the far side of the mountain could see the storm on the mountain but didn't get a drop.

Even my shallots shot up overnight. Nice bit of moisture in the soil now. Should see some grass growth as well

Base price · 10-05-2020 9:30pm

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Had 20mm in an hour. Friends the far side of the mountain could see the storm on the mountain but didn't get a drop.

Even my shallots shot up overnight. Nice bit of moisture in the soil now. Should see some grass growth as well

Keep an eye on the shallots in case they produce early seed heads. Pluck out the seed heads/stalks as soon as you see them emerging otherwise the plants will use their energy in growing seeds heads/stalks.

Kevhog1988 · 11-05-2020 4:45pm

No rain here to talk about in 5 weeks i think. very tight on grass. Ewes have hay in field with them but very little interest in it.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 11-05-2020 8:09pm

Did a walk this morning, heavy ground doing 100+ and shallow ground struggling to hit the low 40s. Took a heavy paddock out to keep it in check but it's going to be a game of two halves soon, dry ground by day and heavy by night and the strip wire getting an early run out.

Say my name · 11-05-2020 8:41pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Did a walk this morning, heavy ground doing 100+ and shallow ground struggling to hit the low 40s. Took a heavy paddock out to keep it in check but it's going to be a game of two halves soon, dry ground by day and heavy by night and the strip wire getting an early run out.

Get the foliar on the dry stuff. In like flynn before it gets too dry.
Ask teagasc what's a good foliar feed for grass.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 12-05-2020 11:08am

Say my name wrote: »

Get the foliar on the dry stuff. In like flynn before it gets too dry.
Ask teagasc what's a good foliar feed for grass.

No sprayer so no use to me.

No inclination to start with a knapsack:P

Say my name · 12-05-2020 12:09pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

No sprayer so no use to me.

No inclination to start with a knapsack:P

Fair enough..
https://youtu.be/t5ZtotlZ0ug

https://twitter.com/TowAndFert/status/1012447828843646976?s=20

Timmaay · 12-05-2020 12:45pm

Say you can just spread that with a normal sprayer? What form does it come in, ibcs?, and what price per unit N any idea?

Gawddawggonnit · 12-05-2020 1:01pm

Timmaay wrote: »

Say you can just spread that with a normal sprayer? What form does it come in, ibcs?, and what price per unit N any idea?

Dissolve 500kg of urea into 1000L, ie the 1000L includes the 500kg of fert. 100L per acre is equal to 24units per acre. Use ordinary spray nozzles.
It’ll green up within 24hrs.

However if water is the factor that’s limiting growth, then it’s water it needs, not fert. The extra 10% fert used during the great drought of 2018 didn’t grow any extra grass...

whelan2 · 12-05-2020 2:38pm

Had great difficulty putting down pigtail posts today. Ground is very hard

Birdnuts · 12-05-2020 4:17pm

No sign of any substantial rain out to the end of May on most models now for most of the country - its not just lack of rain eitheir, its the very low humidities over the past 2 months that have been just as big a factor in drying land out(regulary below 50% these last few weeks!!)

Reggie. · 12-05-2020 8:20pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Had great difficulty putting down pigtail posts today. Ground is very hard

Get some weetabix into ya

Neddyusa · 12-05-2020 8:54pm

Put out bales to cattle this evening.
First time I ever remember doing that here in the month of May. Every few years might have to in June or July - but never in May.

Measured grass at 25% Dry Matter today. Last time grass was that dry was June 2018.

patsy_mccabe · 12-05-2020 9:08pm

I wonder how much of this drought is due to Covid-19. Emissions are way down and so less smog etc in the air. Background global warming still being there, making temperture even more pronounced as a result.

Danzy · 12-05-2020 10:01pm

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I wonder how much of this drought is due to Covid-19. Emissions are way down and so less smog etc in the air. Background global warming still being there, making temperture even more pronounced as a result.

Last winter was the hottest on record for the Northern hemisphere, so it's been coming.

Dickie10 · 12-05-2020 10:48pm

the east wind brings drier continental air, if this airflow keeps up, expect tempreture to get in to 20s every day

patsy_mccabe · 12-05-2020 11:09pm

There's no rain on any of the forecasts. 'A wet and windy May' ain't going to happen this year.

Mooooo · 12-05-2020 11:28pm

Going cutting first cut this week, have about 80 bales so far from surplus grass made before this. May be no harm to walk ground and see where ye are 're grass and silage ground. If cut early it may come back quicker and be better quality as if things are as dry as ye say it may become stressed and start heading out early. MT reckons there may be signs of rain from the 25th in but obv being over 10 days out that may well change. Last time we had a proper dry April and May here was 2012, it started raining the last week of May and I swear to Christ it didn't stop till the following spring and was replace by cold. Bought in silage in July as had to house the heifers and the cow's couldn't graze a good share of the farm

Gillespy · 13-05-2020 12:06am

I'll take 2018 over 2012. That was a terrible run of weather. Damn near broke us. At least in 18 milk yield was maintained to a good level and a lot of silage was got late and it was a great autumn for grass and grazing so shortened the winter that end. A lot of my stress in 2018 was around water but it was fine so that gives me confidence to maybe enjoy it a bit more if we get it again. Cows were content, clean and milked fine. 2012 was just miserable. Desperate year for milk, worst I have seen here anyway.

Dickie10 · 13-05-2020 10:04am

i remember being at a match in tullamore in mid june 2012. it was an afternoon game and i remember before the game going back for my jacket, it was only around 12 degrees. i remember thinking what a freak day it was, the game ended in a draw and the following week the weather was exactly the same dull and cloudy and really cold for June. was at a game then back in tullamore in late july later that year, think it was meath v laois and it was pisssing rain and really cold, was exactly like a league match in March. from those few games i remember that it was really shocking summer, there was no heat in the days at all.

Danzy · 13-05-2020 10:15am

Dickie10 wrote: »

i remember being at a match in tullamore in mid june 2012. it was an afternoon game and i remember before the game going back for my jacket, it was only around 12 degrees. i remember thinking what a freak day it was, the game ended in a draw and the following week the weather was exactly the same dull and cloudy and really cold for June. was at a game then back in tullamore in late july later that year, think it was meath v laois and it was pisssing rain and really cold, was exactly like a league match in March. from those few games i remember that it was really shocking summer, there was no heat in the days at all.

Followed that Autumn by 12 months of heavy rain. 70 inches recorded locally here in that time.

Kevhog1988 · 13-05-2020 10:21am

Dickie10 wrote: »

i remember being at a match in tullamore in mid june 2012. it was an afternoon game and i remember before the game going back for my jacket, it was only around 12 degrees. i remember thinking what a freak day it was, the game ended in a draw and the following week the weather was exactly the same dull and cloudy and really cold for June. was at a game then back in tullamore in late july later that year, think it was meath v laois and it was pisssing rain and really cold, was exactly like a league match in March. from those few games i remember that it was really shocking summer, there was no heat in the days at all.

Meath Kildare was some game in oconnor park in 2017. The heat was unreal

patsy_mccabe · 13-05-2020 10:27am

By abiding memory from 2012 was my 'know it all' uncles , neither of which farm, telling me I should have cut the silage weeks ago. I kept putting it off because the weather was so bad. Met an older neighbour farmer later on the road and I said it to him, that I should have cut it weeks ago and he goes - "Shur how could you. Hasn't it been pissing rain for weeks now."

I learned then not to be listening to hurlers on the ditch.

addaword · 13-05-2020 10:31am

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

By abiding memory from 2012 was my 'know it all' uncles , neither of which farm, telling me I should have cut the silage weeks ago. I kept putting it off because the weather was so bad. Met an older neighbour farmer later on the road and I said it to him, that I should have cut it weeks ago and he goes - "Shur how could you. Hasn't it been pissing rain for weeks now."

I learned then not to be listening to hurlers on the ditch.

I remember an Uncle like that telling me about the silage I should have cut too. Ah, the memories.

_Brian · 13-05-2020 10:47am

We had 20-30 mins soft rain again. Hopefully that will help but the frost at night is a problem for grass growth too.

Still 2 weeks grazing ahead so no actual panic yet.

Anto_Meath · 13-05-2020 12:56pm

Got married in October 2012, Stag was was in end of September, a lot of the lads back out of the day and came down in the evening as it was the first good Saturday in weeks that year. then on the Saturday of the wedding in October the sun was splitting the stones, friends had got married in August and the wedding was a wash out, they were slagin us that we must have better contact with the man upstairs..
Could really do with some rain to soften up the ground a wee bit. I was counting the cattle this morning nice soft mist in the lower field but there was a cold breeze in the field at the top of the lane and them not a 1 km apart.

Neddyusa · 13-05-2020 1:37pm

_Brian wrote: »

We had 20-30 mins soft rain again. Hopefully that will help but the frost at night is a problem for grass growth too.

Still 2 weeks grazing ahead so no actual panic yet.

No offense Brian, but if the grass starts burning with the drought in your country, we'll all be well and truly panicking

kevthegaff · 13-05-2020 10:16pm

Neddyusa wrote: »

No offense Brian, but if the grass starts burning with the drought in your country, we'll all be well and truly panicking

Where is Brian located?

memorystick · 13-05-2020 10:19pm

kevthegaff wrote: »

Where is Brian located?

Achill Island I think

whelan2 · 13-05-2020 10:20pm

kevthegaff wrote: »

Where is Brian located?

Cavan

_Brian · 13-05-2020 10:20pm

kevthegaff wrote: »

Where is Brian located?

East Cavan
It’s Actually really changeable here every few hundred d meters. You’d go from heavy dead blue clay to a shake bank in the same field, one bit never dries while the other burns quickly.

When I was building my house I had a hole in one corner of the foundation that took a few loads of teadymix to fill, then to get the septic tank in we hit rock and it took 5 hours with a 20 ton machine and a rock breaker to dig the hole 🙄

MickeyShtyles · 13-05-2020 10:24pm

Planted a bit of brassicas today and irrigated it. Grass has stopped but weeds are still flying.
Still no rain.

tabby aspreme · 14-05-2020 7:12am

Slurry tankers working late last night around here, watering horse gallops, and then warm water needed on the windscreen this morning, strange times were having.

Danzy · 14-05-2020 8:33am

Mist and showers forecast for 20 miles North and south of me.

Which is a real reminder of 2018.

Kevhog1988 · 14-05-2020 9:29am

Rain forecast here fr next thursday

endainoz · 14-05-2020 10:01am

Rain forecast for the west on Sunday evening too. The growth will fly now!

forgottenhills · 14-05-2020 12:06pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Cavan

For such a small island there are very noticeable weather differences even within counties.

I have lived in several counties including Cavan. It seems to rain at least 300 days a year in the likes of Galway, Donegal, Mayo. Even Cork is quite wet although milder and less windy. On the other hand it seems to rain less than 100 days per year in eastern parts of Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin. Even within Dublin the coastal bit definitely gets less rain than West Dublin. Cavan, in rain terms, like other midland areas, seemed to get approx 2/3rds the rain of the West of Ireland.

memorystick · 14-05-2020 12:33pm

forgottenhills wrote: »

For such a small island there are very noticeable weather differences even within counties.

I have lived in several counties including Cavan. It seems to rain at least 300 days a year in the likes of Galway, Donegal, Mayo. Even Cork is quite wet although milder and less windy. On the other hand it seems to rain less than 100 days per year in eastern parts of Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin. Even within Dublin the coastal bit definitely gets less rain than West Dublin. Cavan, in rain terms, like other midland areas, seemed to get approx 2/3rds the rain of the West of Ireland.

Was on the beach in Bray last year. Absolutely freezing at the water’s edge. A breeze that had my lad up in me. Roasting on footpath. All ice cream and teats. Savage difference in a couple of hundred feet.

forgottenhills · 14-05-2020 1:04pm

memorystick wrote: »

Was on the beach in Bray last year. Absolutely freezing at the water’s edge. A breeze that had my lad up in me. Roasting on footpath. All ice cream and teats. Savage difference in a couple of hundred feet.

That's the downside of the east coast. It rains less but due to cool breezes coming in off the sea it never gets as warm as it gets in inland counties on really good days.

_Brian · 14-05-2020 1:57pm

Mowing the garden earlier.
Less grass than last week so growth is continuing to fall. Seeing grass dying back from kerbs from drought while perennials have heads killed off with frost isn’t a usual scenario at all.

greenfield21 · 14-05-2020 7:39pm

Looks like the rain Sunday will ease a lot of the drought concerns after that looks like no rain until June.

Danzy · 14-05-2020 7:51pm

greenfield21 wrote: »

Looks like the rain Sunday will ease a lot of the drought concerns after that looks like no rain until June.

Ease it for now, lads have ground Alive with fertilizer I'd say.

Hard Knocks · 14-05-2020 10:18pm

forgottenhills wrote: »

For such a small island there are very noticeable weather differences even within counties.

I have lived in several counties including Cavan. It seems to rain at least 300 days a year in the likes of Galway, Donegal, Mayo. Even Cork is quite wet although milder and less windy. On the other hand it seems to rain less than 100 days per year in eastern parts of Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin. Even within Dublin the coastal bit definitely gets less rain than West Dublin. Cavan, in rain terms, like other midland areas, seemed to get approx 2/3rds the rain of the West of Ireland.

Often find top of hills or areas close to mountains get more rain

GrasstoMilk · 14-05-2020 10:29pm

Danzy wrote: »

Ease it for now, lads have ground Alive with fertilizer I'd say.

Nothing of any great significance in the southeast unfortunately

Danzy · 14-05-2020 10:59pm

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Nothing of any great significance in the southeast unfortunately

Disappearing here from the forecast here as well.

_Brian · 15-05-2020 9:49am

Danzy wrote: »

Disappearing here from the forecast here as well.

Same.
Forecast now only saying 2mm both sat and Sunday.

15-05-2020 10:25am

Danzy wrote: »

Disappearing here from the forecast here as well.

That's been typical of this period of weather. A week or ten days out there's talk of rain, then as the days go by it get's whittled away. It's like tabloid talk of snow in Autumn, Winter, the dump of the century is always six weeks away.

I pumped 2k litres of water last night. If ever there's spare money I might look into sinking a well or digging a big pond maybe.

CHOPS01 · 15-05-2020 2:11pm

Friend of mine made small square bales yesterday !

SouthWesterly · 15-05-2020 5:06pm

I put my finger down over an inch into dry soil. Not good for all the veg seeds I sowed.
Lots of fields cut near me.

Drought 2020

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