This week we revisit growers from Carlow, Tipperary, and Donegal. The harvest has virtually finished for all growers, with the exception of a small amount of spring barley on Jamie Rankin’s farm. The attention has firmly turned to the 2019 cropping season for both Larry in Carlow and John in Tipperary.
Busherstown, Co Carlow
Around three weeks ago, mixed weather returned to Busherstown. While rainfall amounts have been small, there have been few drying opportunities. Luckily, the worst of the weather arrived just as Larry finished his harvest. “We finished up just in time. There wouldn’t have been much harvesting weather left.”
The winter wheat harvest was a story of two halves. Quality was excellent on all of his wheat crops but yields varied depending on soil type. The first half of the harvest was predominately on light soils, and average yields were around 3.7t/ac. During the second half, he moved on to heavier ground where average yields were closer to 4.2t/ac. Average specific weights ranged from 76-80KPH and average moistures came in at 18%.
The same was the case for his spring barley crops which he moved onto shortly after. On light ground, average yields were 1.5t/ac while on heavier ground average yields reached 2.5t/ac. “There really were a lot of different things at play this year – land type, sowing date, ground conditions etc,” explains Larry. Screenings weren’t really an issue this year and average specific weights ranged from 63-64KPH.
Straw yields 60% back
His spring barley straw yields were significantly back, close to 60%. This was in part due to a very thin spring barley crop. Straw proved harder to bale as the harvest progressed. Around 10-15% of the grain was dried using his Pedrotti Master batch drier.
The spring bean harvest finished last week. The crop yielded between 0.8t/ac-1.1t/ac, down over 50% on a normal year. “The bean itself was grand – they were big and came in at 20% moisture content but we just didn’t have enough of them,” Larry said.
Larry is currently spreading chicken litter digestate (2.0t/ac). It has roughly the same composition as undigested chicken litter but is guaranteed to be carcase-free. Grid soil sampling is also ongoing and around a quarter of the farm is done. In one field, for example, the variation in pH ranged from 5.9 to 7.2. Lime will be spread at a variable rate on these areas where it is required.
“The harvest logistics were very easy this year and it was very easy on machinery but yields were significantly back.”
Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Last Saturday marked the first substantial rainfall in Clonmel in a long time, explains John. Up until this point, grassland remained brown in colour but green soon returned following the rain.
It remains unclear, however, if a good autumn will deliver any significant respite to the fodder concerns in the area. Estimates suggest that grass growth is just 15-20% of normal levels in the area, said John.
This means that if grass growth doesn’t improve, John may have to house his cattle much earlier than normal, possibly October. While he should be OK in terms of fodder supplies, this could mean that he will be feeding silage during peak sowing time, as had happened during the harvest.
This week he spread one bag of CAN on his grassland to encourage growth, but he is uncertain how much of a response he will see.
John finished his harvest close to a month ago. This time of year is used for catching up with ground works, hedge-cutting and other maintenance.
His beet crops are doing reasonably well and two weeks ago received a fungicide application of Escolta (0.25l/ha). He will apply another application in a week’s time. “You have to keep it green in October. Crops can bulk by 1.5-2t/week towards the end of the growing season,” explains John.
John has been repairing a roadway over the past week.
Preparation for 2019
John has started to spray off stubbles this week. He plans to sow all six-row conventional and hybrid varieties this year including Belfry, Bazooka, and Pixel.
He plans to sow around 80% of his land in winter crops and the remaining in spring.
“The potential from winter barley in a good year is much higher than spring barley,” remarks John.
All tillage land has long-since been cleared. John plans to subsoil all tramlines and any other damaged areas in his fields over the next week using his McConnell Shakerator. “The subsoiler is working very well this year as the ground is so dry,” he explained.
“Overall, the harvest was one of the better ones. The weather was excellent and prices for grain and straw were good. This helped somewhat with the lower yields.”
Cloon, Co Donegal
Ground conditions remain good in Cloon but there have been plenty of scattered showers over the past number of weeks. Rainfall amounts have been small but harvest days have been limited and the cooler temperatures, coupled with duller days, have slowed bulking in his potato crops.
Jamie finished his winter wheat harvest two weeks ago and he was happy with the crop’s performance. The grain weighed very well, averaging specific weights of 78.9KPH. Average moistures were 18% and it dried down to 15%. Straw yields were also reasonable, averaging over 10 4x4 round bales/area.
He moved on to harvesting oats shortly after, which also went relatively smoothly. The crop was harvested in good conditions, averaging 16-17% moisture content. The crop hadn’t brackled very much, unlike other spring oat crops in the area,which were badly brackled. The crop averaged 7.5 bales/acre.
As the end of the spring barley harvest was in sight last Friday, a bearing went on the returns auger on his combine. With difficulty in getting replacement parts, the breakdown meant he couldn’t get going again until Saturday evening, at which time the rain arrived. His remaining 20ac of spring barley will be harvested when the weather settles again.
Last week Jamie sowed Alizee winter oilseed rape at a rate of 35 seed/m2 in great conditions. The ground was first disked and then drilled using a sumo subsoiler. The ground was rolled and 4.0kg/ha of Axcela slug pellets were applied to the crop.
Jamie windrowing potatoes as he opens another field.
Preparing for main crop harvest
Desiccation of main crops will start this week in preparation for the harvest. Jamie aims to have all of his potatoes harvested by Halloween. Main crop bulking has slowed down considerably due in part to the dull weather. Tuber numbers are high this year, which may lead to smaller than ideal tuber size. This may lead to reduced saleable yield. Over the past number of weeks he has been lifting to order and so far, crop yields and quality have been good.
“The harvest this year has been a lot simpler. It’s the first year that everything’s been cut under 20% moisture content.”
Read more
From the tramlines: harvest moving well but rain returns in places
Demands for investigation into potato mislabelling
This week we revisit growers from Carlow, Tipperary, and Donegal. The harvest has virtually finished for all growers, with the exception of a small amount of spring barley on Jamie Rankin’s farm. The attention has firmly turned to the 2019 cropping season for both Larry in Carlow and John in Tipperary.
Busherstown, Co Carlow
Around three weeks ago, mixed weather returned to Busherstown. While rainfall amounts have been small, there have been few drying opportunities. Luckily, the worst of the weather arrived just as Larry finished his harvest. “We finished up just in time. There wouldn’t have been much harvesting weather left.”
The winter wheat harvest was a story of two halves. Quality was excellent on all of his wheat crops but yields varied depending on soil type. The first half of the harvest was predominately on light soils, and average yields were around 3.7t/ac. During the second half, he moved on to heavier ground where average yields were closer to 4.2t/ac. Average specific weights ranged from 76-80KPH and average moistures came in at 18%.
The same was the case for his spring barley crops which he moved onto shortly after. On light ground, average yields were 1.5t/ac while on heavier ground average yields reached 2.5t/ac. “There really were a lot of different things at play this year – land type, sowing date, ground conditions etc,” explains Larry. Screenings weren’t really an issue this year and average specific weights ranged from 63-64KPH.
Straw yields 60% back
His spring barley straw yields were significantly back, close to 60%. This was in part due to a very thin spring barley crop. Straw proved harder to bale as the harvest progressed. Around 10-15% of the grain was dried using his Pedrotti Master batch drier.
The spring bean harvest finished last week. The crop yielded between 0.8t/ac-1.1t/ac, down over 50% on a normal year. “The bean itself was grand – they were big and came in at 20% moisture content but we just didn’t have enough of them,” Larry said.
Larry is currently spreading chicken litter digestate (2.0t/ac). It has roughly the same composition as undigested chicken litter but is guaranteed to be carcase-free. Grid soil sampling is also ongoing and around a quarter of the farm is done. In one field, for example, the variation in pH ranged from 5.9 to 7.2. Lime will be spread at a variable rate on these areas where it is required.
“The harvest logistics were very easy this year and it was very easy on machinery but yields were significantly back.”
Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Last Saturday marked the first substantial rainfall in Clonmel in a long time, explains John. Up until this point, grassland remained brown in colour but green soon returned following the rain.
It remains unclear, however, if a good autumn will deliver any significant respite to the fodder concerns in the area. Estimates suggest that grass growth is just 15-20% of normal levels in the area, said John.
This means that if grass growth doesn’t improve, John may have to house his cattle much earlier than normal, possibly October. While he should be OK in terms of fodder supplies, this could mean that he will be feeding silage during peak sowing time, as had happened during the harvest.
This week he spread one bag of CAN on his grassland to encourage growth, but he is uncertain how much of a response he will see.
John finished his harvest close to a month ago. This time of year is used for catching up with ground works, hedge-cutting and other maintenance.
His beet crops are doing reasonably well and two weeks ago received a fungicide application of Escolta (0.25l/ha). He will apply another application in a week’s time. “You have to keep it green in October. Crops can bulk by 1.5-2t/week towards the end of the growing season,” explains John.
John has been repairing a roadway over the past week.
Preparation for 2019
John has started to spray off stubbles this week. He plans to sow all six-row conventional and hybrid varieties this year including Belfry, Bazooka, and Pixel.
He plans to sow around 80% of his land in winter crops and the remaining in spring.
“The potential from winter barley in a good year is much higher than spring barley,” remarks John.
All tillage land has long-since been cleared. John plans to subsoil all tramlines and any other damaged areas in his fields over the next week using his McConnell Shakerator. “The subsoiler is working very well this year as the ground is so dry,” he explained.
“Overall, the harvest was one of the better ones. The weather was excellent and prices for grain and straw were good. This helped somewhat with the lower yields.”
Cloon, Co Donegal
Ground conditions remain good in Cloon but there have been plenty of scattered showers over the past number of weeks. Rainfall amounts have been small but harvest days have been limited and the cooler temperatures, coupled with duller days, have slowed bulking in his potato crops.
Jamie finished his winter wheat harvest two weeks ago and he was happy with the crop’s performance. The grain weighed very well, averaging specific weights of 78.9KPH. Average moistures were 18% and it dried down to 15%. Straw yields were also reasonable, averaging over 10 4x4 round bales/area.
He moved on to harvesting oats shortly after, which also went relatively smoothly. The crop was harvested in good conditions, averaging 16-17% moisture content. The crop hadn’t brackled very much, unlike other spring oat crops in the area,which were badly brackled. The crop averaged 7.5 bales/acre.
As the end of the spring barley harvest was in sight last Friday, a bearing went on the returns auger on his combine. With difficulty in getting replacement parts, the breakdown meant he couldn’t get going again until Saturday evening, at which time the rain arrived. His remaining 20ac of spring barley will be harvested when the weather settles again.
Last week Jamie sowed Alizee winter oilseed rape at a rate of 35 seed/m2 in great conditions. The ground was first disked and then drilled using a sumo subsoiler. The ground was rolled and 4.0kg/ha of Axcela slug pellets were applied to the crop.
Jamie windrowing potatoes as he opens another field.
Preparing for main crop harvest
Desiccation of main crops will start this week in preparation for the harvest. Jamie aims to have all of his potatoes harvested by Halloween. Main crop bulking has slowed down considerably due in part to the dull weather. Tuber numbers are high this year, which may lead to smaller than ideal tuber size. This may lead to reduced saleable yield. Over the past number of weeks he has been lifting to order and so far, crop yields and quality have been good.
“The harvest this year has been a lot simpler. It’s the first year that everything’s been cut under 20% moisture content.”
Read more
From the tramlines: harvest moving well but rain returns in places
Demands for investigation into potato mislabelling
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