From the tramlines: Crops generally clean as fine spell sticks around

Athy, Co Kildare

Field work was carried out without interruption over the past few weeks in Kildare due to the settled spell of weather. Andrew’s spring crops are doing well and, while they are not under pressure for moisture, some rainfall would be welcome.

Sowing was completed by 1 May, having sown the last of the barley into ground intended for spring beans. Some slug damage was evident and Andrew has spread Trax slug pellets (3.0kg/ha) on a number of fields.

His Venture spring peas have responded very well to the recent heat and are now spreading across the drills. There is some weevil damage evident in the crop but not enough to warrant action. His Fanfare beans are also coming along well and the two crops are due a graminicide and trace element spray next week.

“Peas are very poor competitors so if you have any wild oats at all, they can thrive in the crop,” explains Andrew.

Yellow leaves in spring barley

Andrew’s spring malting, seed and feed barley are approaching GS30. The Planet and Laureate crops have been brought up to 125kg of N/ha.

While aphid numbers appear to be low, yellow leaves are present in some crops which Andrew thinks might suggest the presence of BYDV as the crops didn’t receive an aphicide.

The majority of the barley is looking well. However, one crop which was sown in a field that suffered heavy compaction in 2016 has been slow to emerge and is patchy.

Andrew has started applying T1s to spring barley and the tank mix consists of Siltra (0.6l/ha) or Coyote (0.75l/ha) as well as Moddus (0.15l/ha) and trace elements. Some rhynco is present as is a very small amount of net blotch. Crops will be topped up with 90kg/ha of 0:0:30+8% S this week.

His Husky spring oats have really found their feet and the first node is now detectable. A T1 spray of Talius (0.2l/ha), Ceraide (1.0l/ha) and trace elements will be applied this week.

“We have rapid soft growth on spring barley varieties which are not known for their stem strength. With a later harvest and poorer weather, a PGR application is important.”

Poyntzpass, Co Down

The sprayer has never stopped over the past few weeks on Simon’s farm in Co Down as settled weather paved the way for fungicide, herbicide and liquid nitrogen applications. Crops are moving through the growth stages at a fast pace.

Simon’s Fuego beans are now at the five-leaf stage and have received their second herbicide application of Basagran (1.0l/ha) to target broadleaved weeds. The beans appear to be free from weevils.

His Husky spring oats are looking great and are around mid-tillering. So far, the crop has received around 70kg N/ha and he may bring them up to 90kg N/ha depending on crop development.

The crops are clean and will received either Ally Max (42g/ha) or Mircam Plus (5.0l/ha) plus an aphicide, Stealth (50ml/ha). While he can’t see many aphids, he is conscious that they are there. Simon plans to apply Medax Max (0.3kg/ha) around a week later.

Yellow rust spotted in wheat

Last week, Simon brought his winter wheat crops up to 210-220kg N/ha. Currently at GS39, the crops will receive their T2 fungicide application this week consisting of Treoris (2.0l/ha), Rubric (0.8l/ha) and EPSO Combitop (7.0kg/ha) trace elements.

Low levels of Septoria are present and yellow rust appeared in one to two fields three weeks ago. Simon applied Corbel (0.6l/ha) and Comet (0.6l/ha) on the problem areas in response and got excellent control of the disease.

“We were surprised as it appeared in a field of Graham which has high resistance. However, we noticed it early enough and got great control as a result.”

His winter oats are clean but they are still a bit backward in terms of development and height. They are close to flag leaf and next week will receive a T2 of Capello (1.5l/ha), Comet (0.6l/ha) EPSO Combitop (7.0kg/ha). The winter oilseed rape is coming to the end of flowering and three weeks ago received a fungicide application of Recital (1.0/ha) as well as EPSO Combitop.

“We had patches of waterlogging in winter crops in February which we would have been concerned about but they have mostly filled out and we didn’t have to patch any of them in,” Simon said.

Tralee, Co Kerry

Things have also settled in Kerry and the good weather has allowed Ronan to stay on top of field work and crop husbandry jobs. Little signs of compaction, poor headlands or waterlogging damage is evident in the fields. All of the crops are doing quite well and are moving through the growth stages.

Sowing was completed four weeks ago although Ronan was still sowing small amounts of spring barley for customers up until recently. Despite the late planting, most of the crops were sown in good conditions and have emerged evenly. He brought his Gangway and Irina spring barley up to 150 kg N/ha and applied 100kg/ha of muriate of potash a number of weeks ago.

At the five leaf stage, Ronan applied an aphicide, Markate (100ml/ha), the herbicides Ergon (37g/ha) and Reaper (0.7l/ha) and a trace element spray Gramitrel (1.25l/ha) containing copper, manganese, zinc and magnesium. The key weeds he was targeting were chickweed, docks, fat hen and redshank.

Currently at GS30, his spring barley crops are clean with few pests present. This weekend he will apply a T1 spray of Mandarin (0.5l/ha). Some net blotch is present in spring crops in the area.

Ronan’s Yukon spring oats are at the five-leaf stage, are clean and he is pleased with the crops so far. Their P and K program was the same as his spring barley and the total N was brought up to 118 kg N/ha. This weekend he plans to apply an application of Markate (100ml/ha), Savvy (10g/ha), (Duplosan (1.1l/ha) and Gramitrel (1.25l/ha).

Winter barley spotless crops

Ronan’s Quadra, Carnival and Tower winter barley have all headed out and last week received a head spray consisting of Ceriax (1.65l/ha), UNIPRO (1.0l/ha) and Magnesium Sulphate Epsom Salt (5.0kg/ha).

The crops are spotlessly clean according to Ronan. He used a strong rate of Bontima (1.6l/ha) in his T2 spray as there was quite a lot of rhynco in the area at the time.

“Crops are generally looking good, there’s nobody ringing me about problems so far anyway. If I could just order a small bit of rain at night time, twice a week but keep the heat and high temperatures during the day that would be ideal.”