Navan,
Co Meath
Colm planting the last of his Lynx spring beans this week.
Colm was able to plough over the past week, but only started sowing spring beans last Friday. Ground conditions are now quite good allowing him to make progress with planting. He ploughs with a Kverneland six-furrow semi-mounted plough on no.28 boards, which is pulled with a John Deere 7530.
He finished sowing his Lynx crop on Tuesday, before moving onto spring oats. He sowed the crop at a rate of 215kg/ha, aiming for 35 plants/m2.
He moved onto sowing Husky spring oats and this will be the first year he has drilled the crop using a min-till system
He also applied 0:16:0 at 200kg/ha with the crop using a 4m Horsch Express KR drill and intends on following up with some additional potash later in the season.
Colm is aiming to apply Defy (3.8l/ha) and Nirvana (2.3l/ha) this week. He moved onto sowing Husky spring oats and this will be the first year he has drilled the crop using a min-till system. The TGW of his seed is low, at around 33g, so he will drill them at around 150kg/ha.
Winter crops
Half of Colm’s winter crops are in good condition, 30% are OK, while 20% are patchy. He is tailoring his inputs according to their anticipated yield potential.
For example, his weaker Graham and Costello winter wheat crops have received 120kg/ha less of 9.7:4:25+S than his stronger crops, as he doesn’t feel the expected return will justify the investment. His January-sown Cellule winter wheat was sown at 210kg/ha and has established reasonably well, considering the wet spring weather.
His winter oilseed rape crops have so far been brought up to 160 kg N/ha
Colm is happy with his Cassia winter barley crops. However, his Bazooka crops are sown on difficult ground and have struggled a bit. The crop received 500kg/ha of 9.7:4:25+S two weeks ago and have been brought up 70kg N/ha.
They received an application of Tower (1.9l/ha) and Karate (50 ml/ha) in January, but some fields will receive a follow up application of Zypar to knock out poppies.
His winter oilseed rape crops have so far been brought up to 160 kg N/ha. He noted that there is some volunteer spring oilseed rape growing in one of these crops. More on this next month.
Curracloe,
Co Wexford
Padraig ridging ground in preparation for potato planting this week.
Conditions for spring work are perfect in Curracloe and as a result, Padraig and all the team on-farm have been busy planting potatoes, onions and spring barley. He noted that due to the farm set up, workers are generally assigned to an individual tractor or machine for the planting season, which makes implementing social distancing and hygiene measures easier.
They first sowed early Premier Queen potatoes on February 6 and covered these with a fleece last week. The crop was sprayed with Stomp Aqua (2.9l/ha) pre-emerge herbicide prior to this and also received Sharmethrin (0.75l/ha). Four weeks later, they planted Queens, as well as the crisping variety Lady Rosetta. This will be among the first crisping varieties harvested this year. This week, they are planting their Rooster crop as well as the salad variety Gemson.
Planting set up
The team’s planting set up consists of two five-furrow and one six-furrow plough on no.28 boards, capable of covering 100ac/day. They use a Maschio Pantera triple bedtiller before destoning with three Grimme cs150 destoners. Two Grimme GB330 belt planters are used and they are aiming to plant up to 30ac/day.
They planted their onion crop two weeks ago, using a contractor to drill the crop. It was then sprayed with a pre-emerge herbicide of Wing P (3l/ha) and Defy (3l/ha). They use a 5,000l Fendt Rogator sprayer with 30m booms for most of the field vegetable spraying and a 4,000l Landquip for cereal spraying.
They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops
They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops
Padraig and his team are happy with the condition of their Isabelle winter oats. Two weeks ago, the crop received 480kg/ha of 8:10:20 and they intend on applying SulCAN (375kg/ha) over the coming weeks. The crop also received a herbicide of Cameo Max (80g/ha), Galaxy (0.75l/ha), as well as Mantra (1l/ha) and Zintrac (1l/ha). They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops. Using a 6m Vaderstad Spirit, the crop was sown at 185kg/ha and received 430kg/ha of 8:11:20.
Limavady,
Co Derry
Jonathan's Serafino hybrid rye crop has tillered well and has come through the winter in great shape.
It’s been relatively dry on Jonathan’s farm in Derry over the past 10 days and he has taken this opportunity to finish up ground work in a field he plans to plant maize in. Drying conditions have been good in his area, but he notes that this was needed, as land had been saturated for much of February.
He intends on starting to plough for spring crops this week. Jonathan aims to apply chicken manure on all of his fields and plough this down immediately.
Jonathan is in his third year of growing Graham winter wheat and is happy with how it’s progressing
His winter crops are looking very well, with the exception of 10ac. All crops are green and healthy looking. He held out last autumn until he got a weather window where crops could be sown in good order, and kept the drill tight to the plough. This has made a big difference to them this year, he explains.
Jonathan is in his third year of growing Graham winter wheat and is happy with how it’s progressing. He noted that this variety yields well on his lighter soils. So far, the crop has received 75kg N/ha.
His Orwell, Infinity and Cassia winter barley crops have so far received 125kg N/ha and he aims to apply 150kg K/ha on lighter soils by the end of the week. His land tends to be deficient in the nutrient. The crops received a herbicide application of Pontus and DFF last week, as well as Barleyquat (1.25l/ha), Magfos, (3l/ha) and manganese.
He expects that yields will increase this year
His Serafino hybrid rye crop is looking very green and lush. This is Jonathan’s second year growing the crop, which he supplies to two anaerobic digestion facilities. He is happy so far with how the crop performs, having yielded 15t/ac in 2019 (freshweight). He expects that yields will increase this year. He was able to plant 25 out of a planned 40ac of winter oilseed rape this year. The crop stands at 60cm in height and has been brought up to 75kg N/ha.
Navan,
Co Meath
Colm planting the last of his Lynx spring beans this week.
Colm was able to plough over the past week, but only started sowing spring beans last Friday. Ground conditions are now quite good allowing him to make progress with planting. He ploughs with a Kverneland six-furrow semi-mounted plough on no.28 boards, which is pulled with a John Deere 7530.
He finished sowing his Lynx crop on Tuesday, before moving onto spring oats. He sowed the crop at a rate of 215kg/ha, aiming for 35 plants/m2.
He moved onto sowing Husky spring oats and this will be the first year he has drilled the crop using a min-till system
He also applied 0:16:0 at 200kg/ha with the crop using a 4m Horsch Express KR drill and intends on following up with some additional potash later in the season.
Colm is aiming to apply Defy (3.8l/ha) and Nirvana (2.3l/ha) this week. He moved onto sowing Husky spring oats and this will be the first year he has drilled the crop using a min-till system. The TGW of his seed is low, at around 33g, so he will drill them at around 150kg/ha.
Winter crops
Half of Colm’s winter crops are in good condition, 30% are OK, while 20% are patchy. He is tailoring his inputs according to their anticipated yield potential.
For example, his weaker Graham and Costello winter wheat crops have received 120kg/ha less of 9.7:4:25+S than his stronger crops, as he doesn’t feel the expected return will justify the investment. His January-sown Cellule winter wheat was sown at 210kg/ha and has established reasonably well, considering the wet spring weather.
His winter oilseed rape crops have so far been brought up to 160 kg N/ha
Colm is happy with his Cassia winter barley crops. However, his Bazooka crops are sown on difficult ground and have struggled a bit. The crop received 500kg/ha of 9.7:4:25+S two weeks ago and have been brought up 70kg N/ha.
They received an application of Tower (1.9l/ha) and Karate (50 ml/ha) in January, but some fields will receive a follow up application of Zypar to knock out poppies.
His winter oilseed rape crops have so far been brought up to 160 kg N/ha. He noted that there is some volunteer spring oilseed rape growing in one of these crops. More on this next month.
Curracloe,
Co Wexford
Padraig ridging ground in preparation for potato planting this week.
Conditions for spring work are perfect in Curracloe and as a result, Padraig and all the team on-farm have been busy planting potatoes, onions and spring barley. He noted that due to the farm set up, workers are generally assigned to an individual tractor or machine for the planting season, which makes implementing social distancing and hygiene measures easier.
They first sowed early Premier Queen potatoes on February 6 and covered these with a fleece last week. The crop was sprayed with Stomp Aqua (2.9l/ha) pre-emerge herbicide prior to this and also received Sharmethrin (0.75l/ha). Four weeks later, they planted Queens, as well as the crisping variety Lady Rosetta. This will be among the first crisping varieties harvested this year. This week, they are planting their Rooster crop as well as the salad variety Gemson.
Planting set up
The team’s planting set up consists of two five-furrow and one six-furrow plough on no.28 boards, capable of covering 100ac/day. They use a Maschio Pantera triple bedtiller before destoning with three Grimme cs150 destoners. Two Grimme GB330 belt planters are used and they are aiming to plant up to 30ac/day.
They planted their onion crop two weeks ago, using a contractor to drill the crop. It was then sprayed with a pre-emerge herbicide of Wing P (3l/ha) and Defy (3l/ha). They use a 5,000l Fendt Rogator sprayer with 30m booms for most of the field vegetable spraying and a 4,000l Landquip for cereal spraying.
They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops
They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops
Padraig and his team are happy with the condition of their Isabelle winter oats. Two weeks ago, the crop received 480kg/ha of 8:10:20 and they intend on applying SulCAN (375kg/ha) over the coming weeks. The crop also received a herbicide of Cameo Max (80g/ha), Galaxy (0.75l/ha), as well as Mantra (1l/ha) and Zintrac (1l/ha). They recently sowed the first of their roasting Laureate spring barley on ground ploughed last autumn for winter crops. Using a 6m Vaderstad Spirit, the crop was sown at 185kg/ha and received 430kg/ha of 8:11:20.
Limavady,
Co Derry
Jonathan's Serafino hybrid rye crop has tillered well and has come through the winter in great shape.
It’s been relatively dry on Jonathan’s farm in Derry over the past 10 days and he has taken this opportunity to finish up ground work in a field he plans to plant maize in. Drying conditions have been good in his area, but he notes that this was needed, as land had been saturated for much of February.
He intends on starting to plough for spring crops this week. Jonathan aims to apply chicken manure on all of his fields and plough this down immediately.
Jonathan is in his third year of growing Graham winter wheat and is happy with how it’s progressing
His winter crops are looking very well, with the exception of 10ac. All crops are green and healthy looking. He held out last autumn until he got a weather window where crops could be sown in good order, and kept the drill tight to the plough. This has made a big difference to them this year, he explains.
Jonathan is in his third year of growing Graham winter wheat and is happy with how it’s progressing. He noted that this variety yields well on his lighter soils. So far, the crop has received 75kg N/ha.
His Orwell, Infinity and Cassia winter barley crops have so far received 125kg N/ha and he aims to apply 150kg K/ha on lighter soils by the end of the week. His land tends to be deficient in the nutrient. The crops received a herbicide application of Pontus and DFF last week, as well as Barleyquat (1.25l/ha), Magfos, (3l/ha) and manganese.
He expects that yields will increase this year
His Serafino hybrid rye crop is looking very green and lush. This is Jonathan’s second year growing the crop, which he supplies to two anaerobic digestion facilities. He is happy so far with how the crop performs, having yielded 15t/ac in 2019 (freshweight). He expects that yields will increase this year. He was able to plant 25 out of a planned 40ac of winter oilseed rape this year. The crop stands at 60cm in height and has been brought up to 75kg N/ha.
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