So, how did your beans do? It’s a common question. Dire reports have come from those who have harvested their crops. The straight answer at home is worse than I had hoped for but better than I expected.

We had two fields: the smaller did a bit short of 2t/acre; the bigger a bit less with 1.5t/acre. We recognised that we had planted too late and then, in a year when they needed every help possible, we got a long, very dry, very hot stretch. Beans are portrayed as the protein crop that thrives in the mild, damp Irish summer and with good fungicide control I would agree, but this summer was neither mild nor damp and I paid the price in the yield reduction.

To save input costs, I applied no weed killer so the field looked filthy. We had sprayed Roundup over three weeks before we cut them so the combine coped with the weeds and dirt but it certainly slowed up the process. I won’t skip a herbicide application again. The real question that remains now is what will be the level of the protein production aid. The area sown is down 40-50% so I am hopeful of a higher protein production aid top-up than the €250/ha of the last few years. Up to now, I have always achieved around 3t/acre with beans so no matter how good the top-up, I will still be out of pocket.

Meanwhile, we also got the last of the silage made. It’s well covered and like the first and second cuts, there was little effluent. We have continued to buy continental weanlings and with each load I see the price/kg creeping up while the price from the factory goes down.

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Ireland’s failure to meet protein demand

Positive yield trends but mixed cropping area