High yields and cost of production 'in the hands of the growers'

Yield, grain prices and costs of production determine the profitability of tillage enterprises, farmers were told.

Speaking at the conference, Dr John Spink, head of crops research in Oak Park, said: “Growers have little control over grain prices in the short term. However, in the longer term the development of higher-value markets for Irish tillage products is an objective of the FoodWise 2025 development strategy for Irish agriculture.

“Growers have direct influence on crop yields and the cost of production through the decisions they make,” he said.

Technical improvements on the farm

The conference focused on the technical improvements farmers can make on their own farms. Dr Joseph Lynch of Teagasc outlined yield formation in winter wheat. He spoke about the need to focus on maximising final ear number and prolonging grain filling to achieve high yields in Irish conditions.

Dermot Forristal of Teagasc spoke about the importance of crop rotation to maximise cereal yields. He also identified the most viable non-cereal break crops for Ireland.

Continuing on the theme of break crops, Dr John Carroll of Teagasc outlined the work on optimising bean production in the Teagasc/IFA grain levy-funded break crops programme.

Grass weeds

Resistance to crop protection products can significantly increase the cost of production, both in the short and the long term, farmers were told at the conference.

Grass weeds have become an increasing problem for Irish tillage farmers in recent years with canary grass, brome, wild oats and more recently black-grass being the main problem weeds.

However, these weed populations are still at manageable levels in Ireland, farmers were told. In Britain grass weeds are a big problem on tillage farms, with one-fifth of English grain growers spending €120/ha to control black-grass each year. Dr Sarah Cook of ADAS in Britain, outlined the mistakes made in England that allowed grass weeds to reach epidemic proportions and advised on what steps Irish growers could take to keep grass weed populations at manageable levels.

Septoria

The development of insensitivity, or resistance, to fungicides in septoria has been an on-going issue for more than a decade. Dr Steven Kildea of Teagasc updated the attendance at the conference on the results of the septoria sensitivity monitoring and the discovery last autumn of resistance to the SDHI group of fungicides.

He also gave advice for the coming season on how to slow the development of this resistance and stressed the importance of the whole industry complying with anti-resistance guidelines for future sustainability.

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