Teagasc will hold farm walks on the three BETTER farms on 12, 13 and 14 September. The first will take place with John Collins in Cappoquin Estate in Waterford; the second will be with Kevin Nolan in Grangeford, Carlow; and the third on 14 September will be with Derek Keeling in Oldtown in Dublin. All events commence at 2pm.

The talks will mainly focus on precision farming and agronomy issues in winter crops. They plan to focus on soil nutrition with a focus on feeding the soil to feed the crop. The importance of soil condition has already been emphasised by the performance of winter barley this harvest.

A second major topic will be the importance of using field/crop information to make better decisions. Few decisions should be automatic in tillage and this approach should help make better decisions for profitability.

Precision

And with a focus on precision farming in the current BETTER farm programme for tillage, the question will rightly be asked as to how one might consider the use of precision farming equipment to improve crop performance. Access to the TAMS grants could usefully be used to make appropriate investment for any farm, depending on its circumstances.