Bangor,
Down
Just 12mm of rain has fallen on David’s farm since 20 March and crops sown on sandy ground are now under pressure for moisture. When talking to David this week he was baling the first of this year’s silage crops. He explains that this silage crop was also beginning to suffer due to lack of moisture and needed to be harvested.
David spreading nitrogen on spring barley crops a couple of weeks ago.
In general he is happy with his spring barley crops. Half of the crops’ 160kg N/ha was incorporated into the seedbed and the remainder was applied on 22 April, just before the arrival of rain.
On 23 April the crop received an application of CCC (1l/ha), manganese trace elements as well as an aphicide. David noted that there are higher numbers of aphids in certain fields this season. He followed up with a herbicide application of Liberator (0.25l/ha) and DFF (0.1/ha).
Oilseed rape
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and he is questioning whether or not to apply a sclerotinia spray. He didn’t apply one last season and had one of his highest yields on record.
His winter barley is sown on sandy soil and is in need of moisture. The crop was brought up to 205kg N/ha on 23 March but the granules are still visible on the surface. This may lead to a late flush of nitrogen when rain does arrive, resulting in secondary green tillers.
David’s winter wheat crops have bounced back after a rocky start
The crop received a T1 in mid-April of Helix (0.5l/ha) and Imtrex (0.5l/ha), CCC (2l/ha) as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha). He will apply Mondial (30g/ha) to knock out volunteer oilseed rape and will add in CTL (1l/ha).
David’s winter wheat crops have bounced back after a rocky start. On 28 April the crop received a T1 of Proline (0.5l/ha), Imtrex (0.6l/ha), as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha), CCC (1l/ha) and manganese.
He is also happy with his winter oat crop which has been brought to 130kg N/ha. On 27 April the crop recorded a T1 of Proline (0.5l/ha), Imtrex (0.5l/ha) as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha).
Delvin,
Westmeath
Donal’s policy of rolling his spring crops with a flat roller to conserve moisture has proved beneficial this year.
Conditions have been dry in Westmeath. Any rain that does fall quickly dries under a cold, harsh wind. However, all of Donal’s spring crops are in good condition.
Plant counts on Donal's spring bean crops are around 40plants/m2.
His spring barley crops are destined for both feed and seed. The crops were sown at between 168kg/ha to 180kg/ha along with 120kg/ha of his custom-made Kieserit blend of 11:5:15 plus magnesium, sulphur and boron.
The crops are due to receive an application of Karis (50ml) as well as Tribe (9g/ha) to knock out volunteer oilseed rape this week.
He is also happy with his spring bean crops. He increased the seeding rate by 20%
His Glanbia gluten-free spring oats were sown at between 130kg/ha to 143kg/ha and have received an application of Cameo Max (40g/ha), Galaxy (0.75l/ha), Mantrax (1l/ha) and a low rate of Karis (0.05ml/ha).
Donal notes that his spring workload was somewhat staggered this year, which meant that it could be done in a timely manner.
He is also happy with his spring bean crops. He increased the seeding rate by 20% when using some of 2019’s seed to compensate for lower germination. However, Donal explains that the germination rates remained very good and plant counts are now high.
His crop of Valerie winter barley is very disappointing, he explains. After early nitrogen, rolling, and early PGR, the crop still looks thin and poorly.
His other winter barley crops are looking quite good but there are higher levels of rhynco than expected
He also applied the crop’s main split of nitrogen in liquid form to bring the crop up to 193kg N/ha but it failed to show any response to this.
The plant count stood at 175 plants/m2 and Donal questions if he should’ve sown a spring crop in its place. His other winter barley crops are looking quite good but there are higher levels of rhynco than expected.
The crop has received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha) and Macfare Xpro (0.85l/ha) as well as Medax Max (0.25kg/ha) and Phylgreen (1l/ha). His direct-drilled winter feed and seed wheat crops and Glanbia winter gluten-free oats are coming along well and are due a T1 within the coming weeks.
Lismore,
Waterford
While still not under significant pressure, most of Philip’s crops could do with some more moisture.
The rain which was forecast this week looks like it won’t amount to much on Philip’s farm.
Philip's Enermax beet crops will receive a herbicide this week.
All of his beet crops have emerged, but many have emerged unevenly due to lack of moisture. This year he is growing Enermax as well as the new Conviso Smart sugar beet variety.
His Enermax variety was recently sprayed with Shiro (30g/ha), Sniper (0.75l/ha) Venzar (0.4l/ha) as well as the insecticide Ninja (50ml/ha) for mangle fly. Some of his ground is quite dirty for weeds, so he uses a comprehensive spray programme.
He will keep a close eye on the chickweed in that field as he suspects it has developed partial resistance to SUs
He opted to apply one application of the new Conviso One herbicide (containing foramsulfuron and thiencarbazone-methyl) at 1l/ha instead of two split rates.
He will keep a close eye on the chickweed in that field as he suspects it has developed partial resistance to SUs.
Spring crops
There has also been some uneven emergence of spring crops, owing to lack of moisture.
His spring oat crops have been brought to 140kg N/ha. His spring barley crops following beet were brought to 150kg N/ha while crops following cereals were brought to 160kg N/ha.
Both crops received an application of the aphicide Sumi-Alpha (165ml/ha) as well as Cameo Max (45g/ha) and either Duplosan (0.75l/ha) or Galaxy (1l/ha) depending on the weeds. Aphicide pressure can be high in Philip’s area.
The awns are now peeping in his winter barley and last week they received a T2 of Cerone (0.5l/ha) and Proline (0.4l/ha). He generally operates a three-spray fungicide programme.
His winter wheat crops are poorly looking, but still have the potential to be a 3.5-4t/ac crop Philip remarks.
They received a T1 over the weekend of Elatus Era (1l/ha) and Bravo (1l/ha). The crop is up to around 210 kg N/ha. His winter oats received their T1 this week consisting of Tocata (1.8l/ha).
Bangor,
Down
Just 12mm of rain has fallen on David’s farm since 20 March and crops sown on sandy ground are now under pressure for moisture. When talking to David this week he was baling the first of this year’s silage crops. He explains that this silage crop was also beginning to suffer due to lack of moisture and needed to be harvested.
David spreading nitrogen on spring barley crops a couple of weeks ago.
In general he is happy with his spring barley crops. Half of the crops’ 160kg N/ha was incorporated into the seedbed and the remainder was applied on 22 April, just before the arrival of rain.
On 23 April the crop received an application of CCC (1l/ha), manganese trace elements as well as an aphicide. David noted that there are higher numbers of aphids in certain fields this season. He followed up with a herbicide application of Liberator (0.25l/ha) and DFF (0.1/ha).
Oilseed rape
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and he is questioning whether or not to apply a sclerotinia spray. He didn’t apply one last season and had one of his highest yields on record.
His winter barley is sown on sandy soil and is in need of moisture. The crop was brought up to 205kg N/ha on 23 March but the granules are still visible on the surface. This may lead to a late flush of nitrogen when rain does arrive, resulting in secondary green tillers.
David’s winter wheat crops have bounced back after a rocky start
The crop received a T1 in mid-April of Helix (0.5l/ha) and Imtrex (0.5l/ha), CCC (2l/ha) as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha). He will apply Mondial (30g/ha) to knock out volunteer oilseed rape and will add in CTL (1l/ha).
David’s winter wheat crops have bounced back after a rocky start. On 28 April the crop received a T1 of Proline (0.5l/ha), Imtrex (0.6l/ha), as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha), CCC (1l/ha) and manganese.
He is also happy with his winter oat crop which has been brought to 130kg N/ha. On 27 April the crop recorded a T1 of Proline (0.5l/ha), Imtrex (0.5l/ha) as well as Moddus (0.2l/ha).
Delvin,
Westmeath
Donal’s policy of rolling his spring crops with a flat roller to conserve moisture has proved beneficial this year.
Conditions have been dry in Westmeath. Any rain that does fall quickly dries under a cold, harsh wind. However, all of Donal’s spring crops are in good condition.
Plant counts on Donal's spring bean crops are around 40plants/m2.
His spring barley crops are destined for both feed and seed. The crops were sown at between 168kg/ha to 180kg/ha along with 120kg/ha of his custom-made Kieserit blend of 11:5:15 plus magnesium, sulphur and boron.
The crops are due to receive an application of Karis (50ml) as well as Tribe (9g/ha) to knock out volunteer oilseed rape this week.
He is also happy with his spring bean crops. He increased the seeding rate by 20%
His Glanbia gluten-free spring oats were sown at between 130kg/ha to 143kg/ha and have received an application of Cameo Max (40g/ha), Galaxy (0.75l/ha), Mantrax (1l/ha) and a low rate of Karis (0.05ml/ha).
Donal notes that his spring workload was somewhat staggered this year, which meant that it could be done in a timely manner.
He is also happy with his spring bean crops. He increased the seeding rate by 20% when using some of 2019’s seed to compensate for lower germination. However, Donal explains that the germination rates remained very good and plant counts are now high.
His crop of Valerie winter barley is very disappointing, he explains. After early nitrogen, rolling, and early PGR, the crop still looks thin and poorly.
His other winter barley crops are looking quite good but there are higher levels of rhynco than expected
He also applied the crop’s main split of nitrogen in liquid form to bring the crop up to 193kg N/ha but it failed to show any response to this.
The plant count stood at 175 plants/m2 and Donal questions if he should’ve sown a spring crop in its place. His other winter barley crops are looking quite good but there are higher levels of rhynco than expected.
The crop has received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha) and Macfare Xpro (0.85l/ha) as well as Medax Max (0.25kg/ha) and Phylgreen (1l/ha). His direct-drilled winter feed and seed wheat crops and Glanbia winter gluten-free oats are coming along well and are due a T1 within the coming weeks.
Lismore,
Waterford
While still not under significant pressure, most of Philip’s crops could do with some more moisture.
The rain which was forecast this week looks like it won’t amount to much on Philip’s farm.
Philip's Enermax beet crops will receive a herbicide this week.
All of his beet crops have emerged, but many have emerged unevenly due to lack of moisture. This year he is growing Enermax as well as the new Conviso Smart sugar beet variety.
His Enermax variety was recently sprayed with Shiro (30g/ha), Sniper (0.75l/ha) Venzar (0.4l/ha) as well as the insecticide Ninja (50ml/ha) for mangle fly. Some of his ground is quite dirty for weeds, so he uses a comprehensive spray programme.
He will keep a close eye on the chickweed in that field as he suspects it has developed partial resistance to SUs
He opted to apply one application of the new Conviso One herbicide (containing foramsulfuron and thiencarbazone-methyl) at 1l/ha instead of two split rates.
He will keep a close eye on the chickweed in that field as he suspects it has developed partial resistance to SUs.
Spring crops
There has also been some uneven emergence of spring crops, owing to lack of moisture.
His spring oat crops have been brought to 140kg N/ha. His spring barley crops following beet were brought to 150kg N/ha while crops following cereals were brought to 160kg N/ha.
Both crops received an application of the aphicide Sumi-Alpha (165ml/ha) as well as Cameo Max (45g/ha) and either Duplosan (0.75l/ha) or Galaxy (1l/ha) depending on the weeds. Aphicide pressure can be high in Philip’s area.
The awns are now peeping in his winter barley and last week they received a T2 of Cerone (0.5l/ha) and Proline (0.4l/ha). He generally operates a three-spray fungicide programme.
His winter wheat crops are poorly looking, but still have the potential to be a 3.5-4t/ac crop Philip remarks.
They received a T1 over the weekend of Elatus Era (1l/ha) and Bravo (1l/ha). The crop is up to around 210 kg N/ha. His winter oats received their T1 this week consisting of Tocata (1.8l/ha).
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