Crop progress

Early potato crops in the south are looking extremely well and harvesting is predicted to start in late May, according to Teagasc.

Quite a proportion of main crop potatoes was above ground, according to the crop bulletin forecast issued last week by advisers.

Generally, crop growth had improved due to recent rain. Cereal disease levels were generally low due to dry weather in April — except for net blotch on spring barley, widespread in the southern counties. Root knot nematode damage is suspected in some spring wheat crops, causing severe crop stunting and large root cysts.