Lismore,
Co Waterford
Philip finished his harvest over a month ago and has been taking time to catch up on various jobs around the farm since. His combine has been cleaned and blown down with an airline, in preparation for winter storage.
He won’t wash the combine until next year, as he doesn’t want to risk water lying in parts of the machine over winter. He is also cleaning down his baler in preparation for winter storage, after baling the last of this year’s hay crop a couple of weeks ago.
Philip cleaned down the baler this week in preperation for winter storage
He started ploughing last Friday and will start sowing winter barley early next week. He wouldn’t normally begin sowing before 25 September, however Philip did comment that delaying drilling last year backfired considerably for him.
He has opted to sow Belfry, Pixel and Kosmos this year. Pixel did particularly well on his farm last season. Next, he will move onto sowing Graham winter wheat and Isabel winter oats.
After a slow start, the 25ac of catch crops he sowed for GLAS have come along well.
While crops didn’t look great all year, they performed better than expected
Despite the broken weather during the harvest, it has been a reasonable season in Waterford, as the area never experienced the worse of the adverse weather. His winter oats were the star performer this year, averaging 4.34t/ac. His winter and spring barley and spring oats also had respectable yields: “While crops didn’t look great all year, they performed better than expected,” explains Philip.
He finished baling the last of his straw two weeks ago. Straw yields across all crops are back by between 15%-20%, considerably less than other areas. Straw demand remains good, with all of the crop now accounted for.
Beet
When winter sowing is complete, the attention will soon turn to fodder beet, explains Philip. The crop is looking very promising and he expects reasonable yields. However, he does note the high amount of surplus fodder in his area, which he fears may impact demand. Philip generally harvests the beet and stores in a clamp. He then washes the crop before delivery/collection from customers. More on this next month.
Bangor,
Co Down
Ground conditions are good in Down and preparation for 2021’s cereal crops are underway. When talking to David this week, he was ploughing in preparation for sowing winter cereals.
The field headlands had been cultivated after the straw was cleared and ploughing was going relatively smoothly, with his five-furrow Kverneland plough on no.28 boards.
He thought temperatures had been too mild to start sowing this week, but with the onset of a cooler weather front, he now intends to begin sowing winter barley at the weekend. David sowed his winter oilseed rape on 10 September, later than he had planned.
Preperation for winter cereal planting is well underway on David's farm.
He planted the Clearfield variety DK Impressario at a rate of 2.2kg/ha. He opted to sow a Clearfield variety in a field that has a problem with Charlock and volunteer spring oilseed rape.
Emergence has been good. The crop received 150kg/ha of DAP and an application of slug pellets on the head lands. So far, he has applied no herbicide. David finished his harvest on 9 September. When talking to him last month, he was just starting his winter wheat harvest. He explains that while the crop yielded well, most of the grain was harvested at high moistures.
Straw demand is good in the area, but David will not have enough to satisfy demand
Average grain moistures came in above 20%, with highs of 27%. This meant that his 12t batch grain dryer was busy. David’s first wheat crops did very well, between 4.7 and 4.8t/ac at high moisture. His second wheats yielded a respectable 3.6t/ac at 14% moisture. Straw yields were very disappointing however, averaging four 4x4 round bales/ac.
His spring barley also performed well, averaging over 3.2t/ac with highs of 3.56t/ac at 14% moisture content. However, specific weights were low, he remarked. Straw yields were also back considerably, at around 5.5 4x4 round bales/ac. Straw demand is good in the area, but David will not have enough to satisfy demand. All growers in the area are now finished with their harvest. David has been busy cleaning drains and ditches over the past few weeks, while also spreading farmyard manure.
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
The good spell of weather last week has allowed Donal to catch up with some jobs on his farm. While the sun did shine for most of last week, drying conditions were just OK. The weather did allow ground to seep however, and Donal has started to prepare ground for 2021 cereal sowing.
He finished harvesting his spring beans last weekend and was somewhat disappointed with their performance. He thinks the drought earlier in the season may have impacted pod development. The crop yielded around 1.3t/ac. Many of the pods were on the lower half of the plant, meaning he had to cut the crop close to the ground. He decided to chop the straw.
Donal was able to catch up with stubble cultivations this week.
The last of Donal’s gluten-free Isabel spring oats were harvested last week, yielding around 3.6t/ac. His Husky seed spring oats yielded around 3.2t/ac.
His spring barley crops performed extremely well, achieving the highest average yields on his farm to-date at over 3t/ac. His winter wheat also performed very well, averaging 3.9t/ac.
Straw
The last of his straw will be baled this week. There has been a notable increase in demand for straw from composters in his area. Donal is now selling spring oaten straw for composting. As most of Donal’s crops are seed crops, he rarely burns off a field before harvest.
Most of his fields are now cleared and he was able to sow a cover crop consisting of Vetch and Phacelia at 14kg/ha this week
This means that his straw needs time to mature in the rows. However, many growers in the area were able to follow the combine with the baler, a rare sight for the midlands. Overall, Donal estimates that his straw yields are back by around 50% compared to normal. All straw is now accounted for.
Most of his fields are now cleared and he was able to sow a cover crop consisting of Vetch and Phacelia at 14kg/ha this week. He was also able to catch up with stubble cultivations.
He sowed DK Exstar winter oilseed rape at 3.4kg/ha on 8 September, all of which is coming along well. Donal noted an amount of slug damage however, so will apply pellets this week. The crop also received a herbicide application of Legion (2l/ha).
Read more
Difficult harvest to knock tillage sector back by 15% - IFA
Grain prices: futures weaken but farm prices are up
IFA Potato Report: lifting continues at pace this week
Lismore,
Co Waterford
Philip finished his harvest over a month ago and has been taking time to catch up on various jobs around the farm since. His combine has been cleaned and blown down with an airline, in preparation for winter storage.
He won’t wash the combine until next year, as he doesn’t want to risk water lying in parts of the machine over winter. He is also cleaning down his baler in preparation for winter storage, after baling the last of this year’s hay crop a couple of weeks ago.
Philip cleaned down the baler this week in preperation for winter storage
He started ploughing last Friday and will start sowing winter barley early next week. He wouldn’t normally begin sowing before 25 September, however Philip did comment that delaying drilling last year backfired considerably for him.
He has opted to sow Belfry, Pixel and Kosmos this year. Pixel did particularly well on his farm last season. Next, he will move onto sowing Graham winter wheat and Isabel winter oats.
After a slow start, the 25ac of catch crops he sowed for GLAS have come along well.
While crops didn’t look great all year, they performed better than expected
Despite the broken weather during the harvest, it has been a reasonable season in Waterford, as the area never experienced the worse of the adverse weather. His winter oats were the star performer this year, averaging 4.34t/ac. His winter and spring barley and spring oats also had respectable yields: “While crops didn’t look great all year, they performed better than expected,” explains Philip.
He finished baling the last of his straw two weeks ago. Straw yields across all crops are back by between 15%-20%, considerably less than other areas. Straw demand remains good, with all of the crop now accounted for.
Beet
When winter sowing is complete, the attention will soon turn to fodder beet, explains Philip. The crop is looking very promising and he expects reasonable yields. However, he does note the high amount of surplus fodder in his area, which he fears may impact demand. Philip generally harvests the beet and stores in a clamp. He then washes the crop before delivery/collection from customers. More on this next month.
Bangor,
Co Down
Ground conditions are good in Down and preparation for 2021’s cereal crops are underway. When talking to David this week, he was ploughing in preparation for sowing winter cereals.
The field headlands had been cultivated after the straw was cleared and ploughing was going relatively smoothly, with his five-furrow Kverneland plough on no.28 boards.
He thought temperatures had been too mild to start sowing this week, but with the onset of a cooler weather front, he now intends to begin sowing winter barley at the weekend. David sowed his winter oilseed rape on 10 September, later than he had planned.
Preperation for winter cereal planting is well underway on David's farm.
He planted the Clearfield variety DK Impressario at a rate of 2.2kg/ha. He opted to sow a Clearfield variety in a field that has a problem with Charlock and volunteer spring oilseed rape.
Emergence has been good. The crop received 150kg/ha of DAP and an application of slug pellets on the head lands. So far, he has applied no herbicide. David finished his harvest on 9 September. When talking to him last month, he was just starting his winter wheat harvest. He explains that while the crop yielded well, most of the grain was harvested at high moistures.
Straw demand is good in the area, but David will not have enough to satisfy demand
Average grain moistures came in above 20%, with highs of 27%. This meant that his 12t batch grain dryer was busy. David’s first wheat crops did very well, between 4.7 and 4.8t/ac at high moisture. His second wheats yielded a respectable 3.6t/ac at 14% moisture. Straw yields were very disappointing however, averaging four 4x4 round bales/ac.
His spring barley also performed well, averaging over 3.2t/ac with highs of 3.56t/ac at 14% moisture content. However, specific weights were low, he remarked. Straw yields were also back considerably, at around 5.5 4x4 round bales/ac. Straw demand is good in the area, but David will not have enough to satisfy demand. All growers in the area are now finished with their harvest. David has been busy cleaning drains and ditches over the past few weeks, while also spreading farmyard manure.
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
The good spell of weather last week has allowed Donal to catch up with some jobs on his farm. While the sun did shine for most of last week, drying conditions were just OK. The weather did allow ground to seep however, and Donal has started to prepare ground for 2021 cereal sowing.
He finished harvesting his spring beans last weekend and was somewhat disappointed with their performance. He thinks the drought earlier in the season may have impacted pod development. The crop yielded around 1.3t/ac. Many of the pods were on the lower half of the plant, meaning he had to cut the crop close to the ground. He decided to chop the straw.
Donal was able to catch up with stubble cultivations this week.
The last of Donal’s gluten-free Isabel spring oats were harvested last week, yielding around 3.6t/ac. His Husky seed spring oats yielded around 3.2t/ac.
His spring barley crops performed extremely well, achieving the highest average yields on his farm to-date at over 3t/ac. His winter wheat also performed very well, averaging 3.9t/ac.
Straw
The last of his straw will be baled this week. There has been a notable increase in demand for straw from composters in his area. Donal is now selling spring oaten straw for composting. As most of Donal’s crops are seed crops, he rarely burns off a field before harvest.
Most of his fields are now cleared and he was able to sow a cover crop consisting of Vetch and Phacelia at 14kg/ha this week
This means that his straw needs time to mature in the rows. However, many growers in the area were able to follow the combine with the baler, a rare sight for the midlands. Overall, Donal estimates that his straw yields are back by around 50% compared to normal. All straw is now accounted for.
Most of his fields are now cleared and he was able to sow a cover crop consisting of Vetch and Phacelia at 14kg/ha this week. He was also able to catch up with stubble cultivations.
He sowed DK Exstar winter oilseed rape at 3.4kg/ha on 8 September, all of which is coming along well. Donal noted an amount of slug damage however, so will apply pellets this week. The crop also received a herbicide application of Legion (2l/ha).
Read more
Difficult harvest to knock tillage sector back by 15% - IFA
Grain prices: futures weaken but farm prices are up
IFA Potato Report: lifting continues at pace this week
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: