Every year brings its own peculiarities

Late last week I was up in Armagh with a discussion group looking at crops of oats, winter barley and winter rape. The crops I visited there were generally clean, with mildew having been the most troublesome of the diseases.

The winter oats was the variety Mascani. This is a winter-hardy variety grown for the local milling market. The crop was at booting stage with just a few grains visible here and there. It was quite dense, having been sown at a 12 st/ac (185kg/ha), and some of the lower leaves were senescing due to lack of light penetration. But it was clean and looked to have potential.

A crops of Cassia winter barley was also very clean. The main leaf symptom was mildew or a stain reaction to mildew, mainly on the lower leaves. The crop was still flowering and there were some gaping florets visible as they awaited the arrival of pollen from elsewhere.

The winter rape was one of the DK varieties. The crop was a bit variable, standing in most places but with a few spots lodged in a stronger field. This and most crops seem to have a good depth of pods so hopefully this will translate into good yield potential.

A crop of spring oats was at a strong GS31 to GS32. It was totally clean but there had been a bit of leaf reaction to a recent herbicide.

We had a lot of conversation about the value of organic manures of various sources as different members of the group have access to either pig slurry, poultry litter or compost and all agree that these things are making a big difference to the soils they are farming. While assessing the release of nutrients from manures is not a precise science, these farmers are attempting to adjust bag application rates to cater for current and historic organic nutrient application.

On the same day Dairygold held a field evening on the farm in Fermoy used by Teagasc and the Department for research and variety trialling. Seamus Kearney from the Department told the big crowd that general disease levels were relatively low for the south so far this year. This was helped by good fungicide application timing and Seamus stated that unsprayed variety control plots were still very bad with disease.

One of the important tools in treating rust where it is a more common problem has been the use of morpholines

One of the main disease problems in the south this year is relatively unfamiliar to growers there – rusts. Yellow rust was serious on wheat and crown rust had been very problematic in oats. And now brown rust has basically finished off the unsprayed winter barley plots. These are potentially serious disease that can be totally devastating if left unchecked.

One of the important tools in treating rust where it is a more common problem has been the use of morpholines. While triazoles are generally good on rusts and strobilurins and some SDHII offer good protection, where the disease is already moving the gloves must come off. Morpholines have been important for the control of rust to help achieve an almost instant kill.

Triazoles and the other families work well once the disease is stopped but waiting for 4-5 days for the fungicide to cut in could witness a massive escalation in the level of infection, much more so that with most other diseases.

There was some rhyncho in spring barley fields but perhaps somewhat more net blotch

Yellow and crown rust have been on the radar all year and they are not so fussy with regard to weather conditions. Brown rust tends to be prefer heat and it is a sneaky disease in that it can come in when it is least expected, often at the end of the season, to totally defoliate a crop. And this is exactly what had happened to the winter barley control plots in Cork. This also serves as a warning to barley growers as this disease needs to be watched and catered for.

There was some rhyncho in spring barley fields but perhaps somewhat more net blotch. And the recent break in the weather could spark off either of those diseases. While disease pressures are relatively low, Ciaran Collins of Teagasc warned that ramularia could certainly not be ignored. Infection was present in winter crops earlier in the spring and this could re-ignite in any unprotected barley crops.

Chlorothalonil remains the main active against this disease and this has been the case for many years according to Teagasc’s Steven Kildea. There have been other actives which controlled this disease but their efficacy has generally been short lived. Steven described ramularia as a very sophisticated fungus about which very little is known as it is mainly a problem in Ireland and Scotland. Lack of knowledge is a major obstacle in combating this disease.

Steven said that evaluation work is ongoing at Teagasc on the efficacy of actives against ramularia, as well as other diseases. He said that the strobilurins and SDHIs are now largely ineffective against ramularia. However, results so far this year suggest that prothioconazole is more effective than had been expected, which may be good news for when chlorothalonil is gone. While prothioconazole should not be used alone for this purpose, this efficacy could be useful in suppressing ramularia early in the season when it is used to target other diseases.

Discussion on imports

Discussion time brought questioning on the use of maize imports versus native grains in view of the likelihood of considerable barley carryover, up to 100,000t, following a year which provided the biggest feed usage and one of the smallest native grain crops. Responding, Niall Griffey of Dairygold said that the co-op had relied heavily on its native grain purchased at harvest and that this was now fully used up.

He said that Dairygold continues to make every effort to produce and use native ingredients from within its catchment and the co-op is doing that for feed grains, malting barley and protein crops. While the efforts made by Dairygold to use local grain were fully acknowledged by growers present, it was also noted that many others opted for imports which displaced barley in particular.

The fact remains that the expectation in Europe is for much higher wheat production and this continues to weigh on price prospects

Speaking on recent market price movements, I stated the difficulties being encountered in the US with maize planting and that fact that this had impacted on prices both internationally and nationally. This led to some attractive forward price offers recently but prices have retreated once again. The fact remains that the expectation in Europe is for much higher wheat production and this continues to weigh on price prospects, so much so that native harvest price futures are back over €10/t off the highs of recent weeks.

So the challenge for grower is to be able to recognise a good price. In my view any price which stands out above the price indication of the day is a potentially good price. That is not to say that it will not be higher in the future but any good price adds to your average which is what drives profit.

It is important to be able to recognise this as the fear of losing income due to a forward sale is generally more than counterbalanced by the income foregone due to the failure to make a decision. The price on offer may never be high enough and expectation of a higher price will often prevent a sale which forces imports.

14 June: Groups Together discuss crop insurance, hemp, BYDV and the use of liquid nitrogen. Meet at Lord Bagenal Hotel in Leighlinbridge at 11.00am.

18 June: Goldcrop variety open day in Dunleer.

20 June: ITLUS jubilee celebrations look back at varieties and mechanisation over the past 50 years. Contact Eugene Ryan at itlussec50@gmail.com.

21 June: Goldcrop variety open day in Shanagarry.

26 June: Crops and Spreaders, Teagasc, Oak Park.

4 July: Seedtech grower open day. Advance booking is necessary.

4 July: IFJ Tramlines pre-harvest gathering to address many issues relating to the coming harvest.

15 July: Goldcrop crop walk in Co Donegal focusing on spring barley variety trials.