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What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were making the wrong decision in persisting to sow winter cereals in poor conditions and preparing to keep the seed for sowing at the first opportunity in the spring. The opportunity came in February but we shouldn’t, with the benefit of hindsight, have taken it.
The other day, I was disappointed but not surprised to be told that my seed wheat, which yielded well over 4.5t/ac had failed its germination test and so I would lose my seed bonus. It was a new variety, which is a chance I have been willing to take down the years, usually with good results but not this difficult year.
I cannot understand why we did not insist on protecting our winter barley crop
This year, everything is sown and the wheat and barley are up with the winter barley well established. My main concern is with the possibility of barley yellow dwarf virus in the forced absence of a suitable seed dressing. If the French can insist on the release of a plant protection product for their sugar beet, I cannot understand why we did not insist on protecting our winter barley crop. My understanding is that if there is no real alternative, the Irish authorities can authorise its use for a limited period.
If we get any kind of reasonable spraying conditions over the next 10 days or so, we will go out with one of the pyrethroids despite the possibility of some resistance in the aphid population.
On the cattle side, as we continue to sell the first year of our dairy beef steers it is becoming clearer that the variation in quality has a pivotal influence on profitability.
I have been interested to have had communication from a specialist producer group trying to bring much more transparency into the breeding of progeny from the dairy herd and linking up with a meat company and ICBF
The Irish Angus Society is to be commended for having negotiated a bonus arrangement for its progeny though it’s clear that a lot depends on the type of dairy cow as well as the beef merit of the bull itself. I have been interested to have had communication from a specialist producer group trying to bring much more transparency into the breeding of progeny from the dairy herd and linking up with a meat company and ICBF.
It’s an avenue I am certainly going to investigate in an effort to get more uniformity in the cattle and a greater chance of securing the maximum bonus based on breed, conformation, fat score and carcase weight.
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