The weather has been unnaturally good for March, says Seamus. Blue skies and balmy temperatures meant he wasn’t under any pressure to get field work done over the past week.
That said, he did catch the tail end of a localised thunder shower last Friday where 7mm of rain fell in 15 minutes. However, as ground conditions are so good, all this did was help wash in the fertiliser remarks Seamus.
Seamus discing pig slurry into ploughed ground before sowing.
His Electrum, Vessel and Fay winter malting barley have come through the winter in great condition. While there was a small amount of crow damage in late-sown crops, it’s nothing to worry about, he says. The crops received 330kg/ha of 10:10:20 earlier in spring and he followed up with 37kg N/ha shortly after. The crop received its main split this week bringing it to 150kg N/ha.
Seamus intends to apply a PGR on the crop next week which will consist of either K2 or Cycocel. He will also add in Proline at 0.3l/ha.
Spring progress
Seamus had around 50% of his spring ground ploughed by the end of January and the rest will be finished by the weekend. He now has most of his Planet spring malting barley sown at 172 kg/ha. He aims to finish sowing Tungsten spring barley for seed this week. The ploughed ground has dried very well. He generally discs ploughed ground before applying a compound. Depending on soil type and soil sample analysis, he is applying either 10:10:20 or 0:7:30 into the seedbed.
Due to the high fertiliser costs, this year Seamus is trialling spreading pig slurry directly on to ploughed ground and incorporating it before sowing. He thinks the young plants will access the nutrients faster than if it was ploughed down. He is trialling this in 30ac of his Tungsten crops. He aims to roll fields three days after sowing.
Elsewhere, he has ploughed nearly all of his beet ground but says he won’t start drilling until the risk of frost damage has passed.
The weather over the past week has been Mediterranean-like in Wexford, according to Patrick.
With daytime temperatures hitting 16°C and little to no breeze, it has been a good week for getting spring field work done. Nighttime temperatures have been cool, however, and heavier frosts are expected to return later in the week.
This year Patrick is growing Joyau and Tardis winter barley. His Joyau crops appear to be slightly ahead of his Tardis crops. The crops are due a PGR application this week of Manipulator (1.2l/ha) as well as Axial (0.58l/ha) and MagPhos K (2.47l/ha). Patrick plans to finish spreading fertiliser at the weekend. He will apply between 140 and 150 kg N/ha depending on the field. Overall, he aims to bring crops up to between 190-200kg N/ha this year. He doesn’t think reducing nitrogen rates is the correct strategy this season, as crop yields will suffer. Earlier in the spring he applied the first split of 16:7:14, with the balance applied at the start of March.
Spring sowing
Patrick operates a conventional system, running a five-furrow Kverneland plough with no.28 boards. He began ploughing on 12 March and should be finished this week. So far, he has sown Planet spring barley 185kg/ha and Lynx spring beans which were sown at 219kg/ha using his 4m Kuhn Accord drill.
Patrick sowing Lynx spring beans.
He applied 16:7:14 before sowing spring barley on to the seedbed at between 370kg/ha and 500kg/ha depending on the field. He applied 100kg/ha of 0:10:20 on to the seedbed before sowing his spring beans.
Patrick has also decided to plough up grassland this year to grow spring barley as a result of the recently announced Tillage Incentive Scheme. However, he notes that there is little information available on the terms of the scheme. He hopes to be finished sowing by the weekend.
All fields will be rolled after sowing and he will wait until there is more moisture on the ground before applying the herbicide Nirvana on to his spring beans.
With temperatures reaching 18°C over the past week, spring has arrived in the northwest. It has been a brilliant spell of weather so far, says Michael. While ground conditions are generally good, he says there is still the odd sticky patch in fields.
This year he is growing Vessel winter barley for malt. His autumn pre-emergence herbicide has worked very well and the crops remain clean. Crops are looking well this year and are due a foliar application of manganese, seaweed extract, zinc and sulphur. The crop received 30kg N/ha of urea on 14 March and received 370kg/ha of 10:5:25+S last weekend. He aims to apply another 87kg N/ha of CAN in a couple of weeks’ time.
Michael's winter wheat following oats came through the winter on good condition
Michael is also growing Saki winter wheat this year. The crops are either following potatoes or oats. The crops following potatoes are patchy as the ground got wet shortly after sowing.
The crops following oats, however, are doing very well. His wheat crops have so far received the same treatments as his winter barley crops.
Spring work
Michael is halfway through lambing. He says lambing is slightly clashing with spring field work this year. He aims to start ploughing for spring cereals this week. He has held back on ploughing so far in order to allow the ground to fully dry out. He runs a four-furrow Kverneland plough on no. 28 boards. The ploughed ground will be power-harrowed before receiving an application of 10:5:25+S at around 370kg/ha. The aim is to apply 100kg/ha of K to improve the crops’ straw strength. The field will then be drilled with either Isabel oats or Splendor spring malting barley. He aims to roll all fields after drilling, weather permitting. More on this next month.
Michael also applied 61kg/ha of urea on to silage ground earlier in the year. He plans to close this ground off later in spring and he will likely make silage bales off it in the summer.
The weather has been unnaturally good for March, says Seamus. Blue skies and balmy temperatures meant he wasn’t under any pressure to get field work done over the past week.
That said, he did catch the tail end of a localised thunder shower last Friday where 7mm of rain fell in 15 minutes. However, as ground conditions are so good, all this did was help wash in the fertiliser remarks Seamus.
Seamus discing pig slurry into ploughed ground before sowing.
His Electrum, Vessel and Fay winter malting barley have come through the winter in great condition. While there was a small amount of crow damage in late-sown crops, it’s nothing to worry about, he says. The crops received 330kg/ha of 10:10:20 earlier in spring and he followed up with 37kg N/ha shortly after. The crop received its main split this week bringing it to 150kg N/ha.
Seamus intends to apply a PGR on the crop next week which will consist of either K2 or Cycocel. He will also add in Proline at 0.3l/ha.
Spring progress
Seamus had around 50% of his spring ground ploughed by the end of January and the rest will be finished by the weekend. He now has most of his Planet spring malting barley sown at 172 kg/ha. He aims to finish sowing Tungsten spring barley for seed this week. The ploughed ground has dried very well. He generally discs ploughed ground before applying a compound. Depending on soil type and soil sample analysis, he is applying either 10:10:20 or 0:7:30 into the seedbed.
Due to the high fertiliser costs, this year Seamus is trialling spreading pig slurry directly on to ploughed ground and incorporating it before sowing. He thinks the young plants will access the nutrients faster than if it was ploughed down. He is trialling this in 30ac of his Tungsten crops. He aims to roll fields three days after sowing.
Elsewhere, he has ploughed nearly all of his beet ground but says he won’t start drilling until the risk of frost damage has passed.
The weather over the past week has been Mediterranean-like in Wexford, according to Patrick.
With daytime temperatures hitting 16°C and little to no breeze, it has been a good week for getting spring field work done. Nighttime temperatures have been cool, however, and heavier frosts are expected to return later in the week.
This year Patrick is growing Joyau and Tardis winter barley. His Joyau crops appear to be slightly ahead of his Tardis crops. The crops are due a PGR application this week of Manipulator (1.2l/ha) as well as Axial (0.58l/ha) and MagPhos K (2.47l/ha). Patrick plans to finish spreading fertiliser at the weekend. He will apply between 140 and 150 kg N/ha depending on the field. Overall, he aims to bring crops up to between 190-200kg N/ha this year. He doesn’t think reducing nitrogen rates is the correct strategy this season, as crop yields will suffer. Earlier in the spring he applied the first split of 16:7:14, with the balance applied at the start of March.
Spring sowing
Patrick operates a conventional system, running a five-furrow Kverneland plough with no.28 boards. He began ploughing on 12 March and should be finished this week. So far, he has sown Planet spring barley 185kg/ha and Lynx spring beans which were sown at 219kg/ha using his 4m Kuhn Accord drill.
Patrick sowing Lynx spring beans.
He applied 16:7:14 before sowing spring barley on to the seedbed at between 370kg/ha and 500kg/ha depending on the field. He applied 100kg/ha of 0:10:20 on to the seedbed before sowing his spring beans.
Patrick has also decided to plough up grassland this year to grow spring barley as a result of the recently announced Tillage Incentive Scheme. However, he notes that there is little information available on the terms of the scheme. He hopes to be finished sowing by the weekend.
All fields will be rolled after sowing and he will wait until there is more moisture on the ground before applying the herbicide Nirvana on to his spring beans.
With temperatures reaching 18°C over the past week, spring has arrived in the northwest. It has been a brilliant spell of weather so far, says Michael. While ground conditions are generally good, he says there is still the odd sticky patch in fields.
This year he is growing Vessel winter barley for malt. His autumn pre-emergence herbicide has worked very well and the crops remain clean. Crops are looking well this year and are due a foliar application of manganese, seaweed extract, zinc and sulphur. The crop received 30kg N/ha of urea on 14 March and received 370kg/ha of 10:5:25+S last weekend. He aims to apply another 87kg N/ha of CAN in a couple of weeks’ time.
Michael's winter wheat following oats came through the winter on good condition
Michael is also growing Saki winter wheat this year. The crops are either following potatoes or oats. The crops following potatoes are patchy as the ground got wet shortly after sowing.
The crops following oats, however, are doing very well. His wheat crops have so far received the same treatments as his winter barley crops.
Spring work
Michael is halfway through lambing. He says lambing is slightly clashing with spring field work this year. He aims to start ploughing for spring cereals this week. He has held back on ploughing so far in order to allow the ground to fully dry out. He runs a four-furrow Kverneland plough on no. 28 boards. The ploughed ground will be power-harrowed before receiving an application of 10:5:25+S at around 370kg/ha. The aim is to apply 100kg/ha of K to improve the crops’ straw strength. The field will then be drilled with either Isabel oats or Splendor spring malting barley. He aims to roll all fields after drilling, weather permitting. More on this next month.
Michael also applied 61kg/ha of urea on to silage ground earlier in the year. He plans to close this ground off later in spring and he will likely make silage bales off it in the summer.
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