Denis Dunne, Faithlegg, Co Waterford
The harvest has begun at the Seedtech trial site with the winter barley. The barley is standing well with very little lodging. Some seed barley has also been over the weighbridge in Seedtech, and while there are no yields to report just yet, Denis says that crops are bushelling very well, which bodes well for grain yield.
The winter oats are ripening very quickly. Denis says there won’t be much time between the barley and the oats, and expects that he will be cutting oats this weekend.
The winter wheat looks well. There is some Septoria coming into the crop but it should not affect the crop too much as senescence has begun and grain fill is almost complete.
The spring barley got a lot of net blotch just after the T2 fungicide was applied. Ramularia has also entered the plots in the past two weeks. While it seems to be controlled in the treated plots to the point where senescence will occur before the disease takes over, the untreated plots are being killed off by the ramularia, with a 50% green flag leaf being the only life left in the crop. Denis says that the weather has led to stressed spring barley crops, which helped ramularia to progress.
The spring beans are not too tall this year but they look to have plenty of pods. A nice, long flowering period of over a month set the crop up well, and any downy mildew that was in the crop has disappeared. Some chocolate spot has appeared, but it is at low levels.
The focus is now on the harvest at Seedtech, but Denis is also turning his attention to next year. He is planning the crop rotation, which includes taking into account any grass weeds that may be present.
He says the harvest is a great time to identify areas of fields that may have weeds or other issues and to put a plan into place to rectify these issues.
Denis started cutting winter barley on the Seedtech trial site on Monday, using a New Holland combine that has been modified for trial plot harvesting.
Brian Crowley, Ballycotton, Co Cork
The ground is quite hard in Cork after just 31mm of rain in the last four weeks. Brian says crops are still filling nicely despite this.
The winter barley is ripe and Brian was aiming to start harvesting yesterday (Wednesday. The KWS Tardis and Integral seed crops have been cleared for grass weeds by the DAFM. The SY Craft malting barley is also ready to go.
The spring beans received their second fungicide on 13 June. This consisted of Signum (0.75kg/ha) and Basfoliar Aktiv (2l/ha). The crop seems to be avoiding chocolate spot so far.
Crows have started to invade the spring barley and it has been quite annoying for Brian to deal with. However, the barley is filling nicely and is starting to turn in. It looks like it will be harvested in early August. The spring wheat is quite clean and it has received its final spray of Precision Bio Mag (1.83l/ha), LS Pyrac (0.63l/ha), and Jade (0.95l/ha). The spring oats received Elatus Era (0.75l/ha) and NTS Trio Foliar (2l/ha) as its final fungicide, and it also remains mostly clean.
Brian’s fodder beet looks excellent. There is already a butt forming and there is plenty of leaf to absorb the sunshine. Brian had been worried that the dry weather would affect the beet but it seems to have come through it with no issues.
The combine, trailers, and sheds are all ready to go for harvest on the Crowley farm, with the new IGAS trailer numbers the final piece of the jigsaw before the harvest begins this week.
Brian is looking forward to the harvest, but says that while crops look good, the poor price will reduce the margins on tillage farms this year. Brian says that as a price taker, there’s not much farmers can do except aim for added value opportunities such as malting or seed contracts.
Donald Logue, Muff, Co Donegal
The weather has been mixed lately in Donegal, but Donald says there has been a nice mix of sunshine and showers to help his crops progress. However, this weather has also been ideal for weeds. Donald ran a weeder through the potatoes and vegetables, and also hand-pulled some weeds in the vegetables. Redshank is the biggest issue on his farm and it is difficult to deal with it in an organic setting.
The organic potatoes look very good at the moment. Donald says they are very clean and are beginning to come to the end of flowering. An organic-approved foliar spray of liquid seaweed and 20% fish concentrate is applied every seven days at 1l/ha. The fish concentrate will provide a slow release of nitrogen to the potatoes.
The potatoes will be dug in late September. The haulm must be left to die off naturally before the maincrop can be harvested. There is lots of moisture in the soil at present, which will hopefully lead to low levels of scab.
The mixed crop of barley, oats, peas, and beans is doing well. The beans are doing very well and there is no chocolate spot on the leaves at all so far. The pods are also filling very nicely, and there is an average of four beans in each pod.
The barley is doing much better on the lighter land, with about eight grains more in each ear than on the heavier land. However, the barley was affected by the dry weather in May and it did not tiller as much as Donald would have liked. A bit of redshank is coming through anywhere the crop is thin. On the vegetable side, the cabbage and kale are coming along nicely. Pigeons love the brassicas so Donald has been busy trying to keep them away.
Donald's mixed crop is doing well, with plenty of pods on the beans.
Denis Dunne, Faithlegg, Co Waterford
The harvest has begun at the Seedtech trial site with the winter barley. The barley is standing well with very little lodging. Some seed barley has also been over the weighbridge in Seedtech, and while there are no yields to report just yet, Denis says that crops are bushelling very well, which bodes well for grain yield.
The winter oats are ripening very quickly. Denis says there won’t be much time between the barley and the oats, and expects that he will be cutting oats this weekend.
The winter wheat looks well. There is some Septoria coming into the crop but it should not affect the crop too much as senescence has begun and grain fill is almost complete.
The spring barley got a lot of net blotch just after the T2 fungicide was applied. Ramularia has also entered the plots in the past two weeks. While it seems to be controlled in the treated plots to the point where senescence will occur before the disease takes over, the untreated plots are being killed off by the ramularia, with a 50% green flag leaf being the only life left in the crop. Denis says that the weather has led to stressed spring barley crops, which helped ramularia to progress.
The spring beans are not too tall this year but they look to have plenty of pods. A nice, long flowering period of over a month set the crop up well, and any downy mildew that was in the crop has disappeared. Some chocolate spot has appeared, but it is at low levels.
The focus is now on the harvest at Seedtech, but Denis is also turning his attention to next year. He is planning the crop rotation, which includes taking into account any grass weeds that may be present.
He says the harvest is a great time to identify areas of fields that may have weeds or other issues and to put a plan into place to rectify these issues.
Denis started cutting winter barley on the Seedtech trial site on Monday, using a New Holland combine that has been modified for trial plot harvesting.
Brian Crowley, Ballycotton, Co Cork
The ground is quite hard in Cork after just 31mm of rain in the last four weeks. Brian says crops are still filling nicely despite this.
The winter barley is ripe and Brian was aiming to start harvesting yesterday (Wednesday. The KWS Tardis and Integral seed crops have been cleared for grass weeds by the DAFM. The SY Craft malting barley is also ready to go.
The spring beans received their second fungicide on 13 June. This consisted of Signum (0.75kg/ha) and Basfoliar Aktiv (2l/ha). The crop seems to be avoiding chocolate spot so far.
Crows have started to invade the spring barley and it has been quite annoying for Brian to deal with. However, the barley is filling nicely and is starting to turn in. It looks like it will be harvested in early August. The spring wheat is quite clean and it has received its final spray of Precision Bio Mag (1.83l/ha), LS Pyrac (0.63l/ha), and Jade (0.95l/ha). The spring oats received Elatus Era (0.75l/ha) and NTS Trio Foliar (2l/ha) as its final fungicide, and it also remains mostly clean.
Brian’s fodder beet looks excellent. There is already a butt forming and there is plenty of leaf to absorb the sunshine. Brian had been worried that the dry weather would affect the beet but it seems to have come through it with no issues.
The combine, trailers, and sheds are all ready to go for harvest on the Crowley farm, with the new IGAS trailer numbers the final piece of the jigsaw before the harvest begins this week.
Brian is looking forward to the harvest, but says that while crops look good, the poor price will reduce the margins on tillage farms this year. Brian says that as a price taker, there’s not much farmers can do except aim for added value opportunities such as malting or seed contracts.
Donald Logue, Muff, Co Donegal
The weather has been mixed lately in Donegal, but Donald says there has been a nice mix of sunshine and showers to help his crops progress. However, this weather has also been ideal for weeds. Donald ran a weeder through the potatoes and vegetables, and also hand-pulled some weeds in the vegetables. Redshank is the biggest issue on his farm and it is difficult to deal with it in an organic setting.
The organic potatoes look very good at the moment. Donald says they are very clean and are beginning to come to the end of flowering. An organic-approved foliar spray of liquid seaweed and 20% fish concentrate is applied every seven days at 1l/ha. The fish concentrate will provide a slow release of nitrogen to the potatoes.
The potatoes will be dug in late September. The haulm must be left to die off naturally before the maincrop can be harvested. There is lots of moisture in the soil at present, which will hopefully lead to low levels of scab.
The mixed crop of barley, oats, peas, and beans is doing well. The beans are doing very well and there is no chocolate spot on the leaves at all so far. The pods are also filling very nicely, and there is an average of four beans in each pod.
The barley is doing much better on the lighter land, with about eight grains more in each ear than on the heavier land. However, the barley was affected by the dry weather in May and it did not tiller as much as Donald would have liked. A bit of redshank is coming through anywhere the crop is thin. On the vegetable side, the cabbage and kale are coming along nicely. Pigeons love the brassicas so Donald has been busy trying to keep them away.
Donald's mixed crop is doing well, with plenty of pods on the beans.
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