Planting

There are still crops being planted across the country. Maize may be able to go in without a cover in some places, while beet needs to be drilled as soon as possible.

Spring barley crops are also still being put in the ground, and farmers need to consider costs here with grain prices now below €200/t.

Potato farmers are still struggling to get into some ground, but the weekend looks OK weather-wise, which will hopefully allow good progress to be made after a dry week in most places.

Spring barley

Herbicide is a priority at present for April-sown crops. Apply aphicide with the herbicide where it is being used. Crops sown in April and May are at higher risk of barley yellow dwarf virus than early sown crops.

Crop nutrition should be looked after early in the season to prevent symptoms from showing. Apply trace elements with the herbicide spray. Be careful of tank mixes. Make sure to check with your agronomist that products are compatible.

Most March-sown crops should have received their first fungicide by now. Keep an eye on crops sown in early April. Net blotch is common in Planet and it is best kept at bay.

An azole and a strobilurin will work here like Decoy and Comet, or some might go for an SDHI with a triazole like Siltra or Elatus Era.

T2

T2s are out on many winter wheat crops and will be due on more in the coming days. The flag leaf should be emerged on the majority of plants when applying this fungicide.

Folpet will be needed at 1.5l/ha, while the second product should either be the newer azole Revystar with an SDHI, a QiI like Inatreq with an azole like prothioconazole or an SDHI with an azole like Ascra or Elatus Era all applied at 80-100% rates.

You should not use the same product that was applied for the T1 fungicide. Apply nutrition if needed, like magnesium or if crops are under stress consider something like a seaweed-based product.

Inatreq

When using Inatreq, it is essential to have good sprayer hygiene. Last year a small number of users experienced issues with sprayers following the product’s use.

Corteva, the company which sells Inatreq, wants growers to practice good sprayer hygiene with all products. In a video created by Corteva, the advice is to divide the sprayer rinse tank into three parts to rinse the sprayer three times; the middle rinse is probably the best to include a tank cleaner.

A spray mix should not be left in a tank overnight and sprayers should be cleaned out as soon as possible after spraying.

Wild bird cover

The closing date for planting wild bird cover has been extended to 31 May.

Save the date

The Teagasc Crops Open day will be held on Wednesday, 21 June this year. The Irish Farmers Journal has teamed up with Teagasc for “Crops and cover crop cultivations”. Attendees can look at all the latest research before arriving at the cover crop demonstration area, where we’ll talk about the benefits of cover crops, machinery and seedbeds.