Fieldwork

Spring has sprung in the fields as machinery moves in many parts of the south and east of the country in particular. Many farmers were out last week, but the weekend provided great drying and there are a good number of dry days in the forecast.

However, there is still plenty of rain and wet land in the northern and western parts of the country.

Some farmers are busy ploughing, while others have pulled out the seed drill. Beans will be one crop people will be thinking of getting into the ground, while some have the spring barley seed out.

There are advantages from a protein content point of view to getting crops in early, but we haven’t hit the middle of February yet so there is a worry that if bad weather comes crops will suffer.

Crows will be on the lookout for any newly planted crops so take appropriate action, drill beans to 4” and use frighteners where needed. Before you plant anything you should do the sums.

On this week’s tillage pages the Teagasc Cost and Returns tables are detailed and these will be a big help to all deciding on what crops to plant.

Beans

While some farmers are already getting beans in the ground others are less enthusiastic, but all farmers should think strongly about planting beans. If 12,000ha of the crop are planted this year the protein payment will be €583/ha and you will also save on nitrogen fertiliser.

Buffer zones

Under the new CAP farmers are required to leave a 3m uncultivated strip beside a watercourse. This was previously 2m. There is also a requirement that fertiliser or pesticides should not be applied within 3m of a drain that can hold water.

If this strip is not to receive any treatments it is probably best left uncultivated as it could risk building up grass weeds or disease. More information isneeded on this. It is a large amount of land to take out of production. I’ll keep you updated on developments.

Slurry

Remember if you are spreading slurry it must be incorporated within 24 hours of spreading or else spread with low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment. All pig slurry has to be applied with LESS equipment.

Incorporating that quickly is a difficult task, but new nitrates rules call for this to happen. The most important thing is that people are safe doing these jobs and avoid rushing and causing an accident.

ITLUS

The Irish Tillage and Land Use Society (ITLUS) will hold its spring seminar on Wednesday, 22 February in Teagasc Oak Park Crops Research Centre, Co Carlow.

Alternative nitrogen sources, nitrogen use efficiency and increasing beans area are on the agenda, along with practical workshops on barley yellow dwarf virus management and grass weed control.

Members can attend for €40, while non-members are €60 including lunch. Registration is required by 16 February to itlussec50@gmail.com