The 2019 cereal harvest is now complete in most areas with just a few pockets of spring crops and winter wheat remaining. Teagasc has estimated this year’s cereal harvest to be around 2.1m tonnes, below the five-year average of 2.3m tonnes. Yields per hectare are up, but the total area of cereals grown is down.

Harvest progress remains slow in the west and northwest due to wet weather but there has been some opportunities for harvesting over the week.

The harvest is around 10% from completion in the west, while around 30% of cereals remain to be harvested in the northwest. Ground trafficability is particularly poor in the northwest, but crop condition, grain quality and yields have remained good.

Spring bean harvest

With a planted area of 6,400ha this year, spring beans have been looking very promising all year.

The harvest has commenced in some areas and initial reports suggest yields north of 2t/ac. However, it is still too early to draw an accurate indication of yields.

Crops in other areas are still a number of weeks from harvest.

Baling gathers pace

It is estimated that less than 5% of straw remains to be baled after a week of good baling progress. Much of the later harvested winter wheat straw was fit for baling after harvest where weather conditions allowed. However, some of the spring crops needed time to mature.

While baling progress has been good, the straw market remains quiet, with few reports of straw moving west.

Read more

When it comes to aphids, IPM has never been so important

Waterproof wheat developed using gene editing