David Matthews –
Bangor,
Co Down
David is well ahead of winter sowing compared to this time last year. However, David explains that the dry spell last week wasn’t as straightforward as promised.
Showers of rain during the night and early morning often meant he couldn’t start sowing until the afternoon.
David's winter barley has emerged well.
This meant he had to pick and choose which fields to sow, depending on their condition. This often meant he would switch between sowing wheat, barley and oats depending on which field was ready first.
Sowing began on 26 September with Extase winter wheat. The crop was sown at 265 seeds/m2 and David was aiming for 80% establishment. From there, he moved on to sowing Mascani winter oats on low lying ground.
With a seed TGW of 47g, he used a seed rate of 230 seeds/m2. David opted to keep seed rates low, as he was sowing this oat crop earlier than normal.
Winter barley
From there, he moved to winter barley, starting with the hybrid variety Kingsbarn and sowing at a rate of 84kg/ha. He decided to try the new BYDV-tolerant variety Idilic this year.
David explains that if this new generation of BYDV-tolerant variety doesn’t work, he will likely cut back on winter barley area. David’s coastal location means aphid pressure can be high.
David noted that crop emergence appears to be slower this autumn and questions if the heat has left the ground already
Other winter barley varieties planted include Orwell, Momento and Valerie, all sown at 275 seeds/m2. The TGW of the seed ranged from 50g to 66g.
David noted that crop emergence appears to be slower this autumn and questions if the heat has left the ground already.
He then moved back to winter wheat, sowing Graham at 280 seeds/m2, which had a seed TGW of 55g.
This was followed by Gleam at 270 seeds/m2 and RGT Lantern at 300 seeds/m2. Both were second wheats with a seed TGW of 44g. These seeds were treated with Latitude.
David’s winter oats received a herbicide application of Liberator at 0.25l/ha and he is aiming to apply a post-emerge spray on his winter barley and wheat soon.
Donal O’Keeffe –
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
Conditions have been reasonably good in Westmeath. Donal was able to get all of his planned winter crop area sown before the weather broke this week. He was able to establish more of his winter wheat crop via minimum tillage than first planned, as conditions were good.
Donal even trialled min-tilling a small amount of winter barley this year, which has all emerged well.
Donal rigorously cleans his drill before sowing his gluten-free oats.
The rest of the crop was sown with his plough and one-pass drill. He opted to sow Cassia winter barley again this year, both for feed and seed.
“Cassia always does well around here, it’s just reliable,” he remarks.
Donal needed to keep a close eye on seed size this year, as TGW ranged from a massive 72.4g, resulting in a seed rate of 255kg/ha, to 62.4g, resulting in a seed rate of 225kg/ha. He wasn’t able to roll any of his winter crops this year, but was able to apply a post-emerge spray of Clayton Tacit (0.35l/ha) and Stride (0.25l/ha). Donal feels that pre-emerge herbicides in winter barley are vital for controlling grassweeds.
After making a late decision not to sow his original planned area of winter oats, Donal opted to sow Conros wheat instead
Next, he sowed Graham winter wheat for feed. The seed had a TGW of 61.35g and was sown at 165kg/ha. After making a late decision not to sow his original planned area of winter oats, Donal opted to sow Conros wheat instead. The seed had a TGW of 48.9g and was sown at 155kg/ha. He is aiming to apply a post-emerge herbicide this week.
Finally, Donal sowed his gluten-free oats. This year, he is growing Isabel, which was sown at 163kg/ha, and Barra, which was sown at 163kg/ha. He was able to sow an amount of his Isabel crop via minimum tillage. Donal has no immediate herbicide plans for these crops.
His vetch and phacelia cover crops have been very slow to emerge and are equally slow to develop. He questions the merit of sowing these species from late August onwards and wonders if there are other cover crop mixes that may be better suited to late drilling in cooler temperatures.
Philip Heskin –
Lismore,
Co Waterford
Growers in Waterford have had a good run over the past few weeks. Settled weather and great ground conditions meant Philip could get through the majority of his autumn planting with relative ease.
Sowing began on 26 September, with the bulk of his area sown by Friday last. Like most growers this year, Philip noticed a large variation in seed TGW and had to adjust sowing rates often.
Philip has been servicing his Armer Salmon harvester this week.
He began sowing Pixel winter barley in the last week of September and finished in the second week of October. Seed rates were gradually increased as the weeks went by and ranged from 175kg/ha to 200kg/ha. TGW ranged from 52g to 54.7g. He also sowed the hybrid variety Belfry at 110kg/ha.
Next, Philip moved to Graham winter wheat. Seed rates ranged from 177kg/ha to 185kg/ha. TGW ranged from 52g to 56.9g. Most of his wheat crops were rolled after sowing. Finally, Philip moved to Isobel winter oats, sowing seed with a TGW of 40g at a rate of 155kg/ha.
He hasn’t applied any autumn herbicides yet, as the main priority was getting winter crops sown. He now plans on applying a post-emerge and an aphicide by the end of this week.
Philip will likely apply Tower (2l/ha) and Cameo Max 15g/ha on winter barley and wheat, along with the aphicide Sumi-Alpha.
He will start his fodder beet harvest towards the end of this week. The crops have been looking good all year and he is optimistic about their yield potential
Philip uses a Lemken five-furrow slatted board plough, along with a Lemken 3m Solitair 9 one-pass drill. Apart from replacing the usual wearing parts on his plough and changing the tines of the power harrow on the drill, he had no major mechanical issues this autumn.
He will start his fodder beet harvest towards the end of this week. The crops have been looking good all year and he is optimistic about their yield potential. Philip uses a twin-row Armer Salmon to lift the beet crops and he spent this week servicing the machine before the season starts.
He washes around 95% of his crops for customers using a Campion loader washer.
David Matthews –
Bangor,
Co Down
David is well ahead of winter sowing compared to this time last year. However, David explains that the dry spell last week wasn’t as straightforward as promised.
Showers of rain during the night and early morning often meant he couldn’t start sowing until the afternoon.
David's winter barley has emerged well.
This meant he had to pick and choose which fields to sow, depending on their condition. This often meant he would switch between sowing wheat, barley and oats depending on which field was ready first.
Sowing began on 26 September with Extase winter wheat. The crop was sown at 265 seeds/m2 and David was aiming for 80% establishment. From there, he moved on to sowing Mascani winter oats on low lying ground.
With a seed TGW of 47g, he used a seed rate of 230 seeds/m2. David opted to keep seed rates low, as he was sowing this oat crop earlier than normal.
Winter barley
From there, he moved to winter barley, starting with the hybrid variety Kingsbarn and sowing at a rate of 84kg/ha. He decided to try the new BYDV-tolerant variety Idilic this year.
David explains that if this new generation of BYDV-tolerant variety doesn’t work, he will likely cut back on winter barley area. David’s coastal location means aphid pressure can be high.
David noted that crop emergence appears to be slower this autumn and questions if the heat has left the ground already
Other winter barley varieties planted include Orwell, Momento and Valerie, all sown at 275 seeds/m2. The TGW of the seed ranged from 50g to 66g.
David noted that crop emergence appears to be slower this autumn and questions if the heat has left the ground already.
He then moved back to winter wheat, sowing Graham at 280 seeds/m2, which had a seed TGW of 55g.
This was followed by Gleam at 270 seeds/m2 and RGT Lantern at 300 seeds/m2. Both were second wheats with a seed TGW of 44g. These seeds were treated with Latitude.
David’s winter oats received a herbicide application of Liberator at 0.25l/ha and he is aiming to apply a post-emerge spray on his winter barley and wheat soon.
Donal O’Keeffe –
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
Conditions have been reasonably good in Westmeath. Donal was able to get all of his planned winter crop area sown before the weather broke this week. He was able to establish more of his winter wheat crop via minimum tillage than first planned, as conditions were good.
Donal even trialled min-tilling a small amount of winter barley this year, which has all emerged well.
Donal rigorously cleans his drill before sowing his gluten-free oats.
The rest of the crop was sown with his plough and one-pass drill. He opted to sow Cassia winter barley again this year, both for feed and seed.
“Cassia always does well around here, it’s just reliable,” he remarks.
Donal needed to keep a close eye on seed size this year, as TGW ranged from a massive 72.4g, resulting in a seed rate of 255kg/ha, to 62.4g, resulting in a seed rate of 225kg/ha. He wasn’t able to roll any of his winter crops this year, but was able to apply a post-emerge spray of Clayton Tacit (0.35l/ha) and Stride (0.25l/ha). Donal feels that pre-emerge herbicides in winter barley are vital for controlling grassweeds.
After making a late decision not to sow his original planned area of winter oats, Donal opted to sow Conros wheat instead
Next, he sowed Graham winter wheat for feed. The seed had a TGW of 61.35g and was sown at 165kg/ha. After making a late decision not to sow his original planned area of winter oats, Donal opted to sow Conros wheat instead. The seed had a TGW of 48.9g and was sown at 155kg/ha. He is aiming to apply a post-emerge herbicide this week.
Finally, Donal sowed his gluten-free oats. This year, he is growing Isabel, which was sown at 163kg/ha, and Barra, which was sown at 163kg/ha. He was able to sow an amount of his Isabel crop via minimum tillage. Donal has no immediate herbicide plans for these crops.
His vetch and phacelia cover crops have been very slow to emerge and are equally slow to develop. He questions the merit of sowing these species from late August onwards and wonders if there are other cover crop mixes that may be better suited to late drilling in cooler temperatures.
Philip Heskin –
Lismore,
Co Waterford
Growers in Waterford have had a good run over the past few weeks. Settled weather and great ground conditions meant Philip could get through the majority of his autumn planting with relative ease.
Sowing began on 26 September, with the bulk of his area sown by Friday last. Like most growers this year, Philip noticed a large variation in seed TGW and had to adjust sowing rates often.
Philip has been servicing his Armer Salmon harvester this week.
He began sowing Pixel winter barley in the last week of September and finished in the second week of October. Seed rates were gradually increased as the weeks went by and ranged from 175kg/ha to 200kg/ha. TGW ranged from 52g to 54.7g. He also sowed the hybrid variety Belfry at 110kg/ha.
Next, Philip moved to Graham winter wheat. Seed rates ranged from 177kg/ha to 185kg/ha. TGW ranged from 52g to 56.9g. Most of his wheat crops were rolled after sowing. Finally, Philip moved to Isobel winter oats, sowing seed with a TGW of 40g at a rate of 155kg/ha.
He hasn’t applied any autumn herbicides yet, as the main priority was getting winter crops sown. He now plans on applying a post-emerge and an aphicide by the end of this week.
Philip will likely apply Tower (2l/ha) and Cameo Max 15g/ha on winter barley and wheat, along with the aphicide Sumi-Alpha.
He will start his fodder beet harvest towards the end of this week. The crops have been looking good all year and he is optimistic about their yield potential
Philip uses a Lemken five-furrow slatted board plough, along with a Lemken 3m Solitair 9 one-pass drill. Apart from replacing the usual wearing parts on his plough and changing the tines of the power harrow on the drill, he had no major mechanical issues this autumn.
He will start his fodder beet harvest towards the end of this week. The crops have been looking good all year and he is optimistic about their yield potential. Philip uses a twin-row Armer Salmon to lift the beet crops and he spent this week servicing the machine before the season starts.
He washes around 95% of his crops for customers using a Campion loader washer.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: