Croom,
Co Limerick
Some 53mm of rain fell in Croom, Co Limerick, during April over a period of 15 days. From temperatures of 21°C to wind speeds of 84km/h during storm Hannah, April can only be described as a mixed month on John’s farm.
John Galvin discing a rolled cover crop before ploughing for maize.
However, there have been a lot of opportunities for work, explains John. He is happy with the progress with his crops, helped in part by the moisture and good temperatures.
Any yellowing and stress which was apparent in his crops last month have virtually disappeared, he explains. Last month he applied slurry on to some of his winter wheat and the crops have now recovered from any tracking and tramping which occurred. However, he hasn’t seen a huge difference in the crops which received slurry just yet.
Last week, he brought his winter wheat up to 200kg N/ha. The crop received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha), Moddus (1.25l/ha), Ascra Xpro (1.25l/ha) and manganese trace elements (0.5kg/ha) on 17 April.
His winter barley also received a T1 of Zephyr (0.75l/ha), Bravo (1l/ha), Moddus (0.1 l/ha) and manganese trace elements (0.5kg/ha). The crop received its last split of nitrogen (N) on 19 April and is now brought up to 180kg N/ha.
The flag leaf is at various stages of emergence on both his winter wheat and barley.
Maize preparation
He recently burned off (glyphosate 1.5l/ha) cover crops consisting of westerwolds, fodder rape and leafy turnip in anticipation of sowing maize.
The field will be rolled, disced and ploughed before drilling. The crop will be sown under plastic by a contractor later this week. Around 2,500g/ac of slurry was applied before ploughing and he will apply potash and urea to make up the balance.
Last week, he sowed Doubleshot spring wheat at 200kg/ha, which will be whole-cropped later in the year. The ground was ploughed, disced with a Macio 3m disc and sowed with a 4.8m Weaving drill. Around 370kg of 10:10:20 and 250kg N/ha was applied on to the seedbed before drilling and the field was rolled after.
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
“April hasn’t been too inconvenient for work,” explains Donal. A total of 50mm of rain fell on his farm during the month and came over four intervals. After lows of -2.5°C on 7 April, temperatures rose steadily to hit 21.4°C on April 20.
Donal O'Keeffe top-dressing spring barley after storm Hannah at the weekend.
He finished his spring cereal sowing three weeks ago having sowed Gangway and Planet spring barley for seed at between 180kgha and 190kg/ha. Most of the ground was disced once and sown directly with his Amazone one-pass.
Depending on the ground, it either received and application of 9.6:5.8:25, 10:10:20 or 18:6:12. All ground was rolled with a 3.6m flat roller. Last week he brought the crops up to 135kg N/ha using his mounted Rauch spreader. Spring beans were slow to emerge but once temperatures rose, they developed quickly. They received a pre-emerge herbicide of Stallion (3l/ha). As reported on last month’s From the Tramlines, he had difficulties direct drilling with a Weaving drill. As a result, two rows of seed had been placed into one row, leaving space of 25cm between each row. He plans to sow maize once the weather settles. More on this in next month’s instalment.
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and received Toprex (0.9l/ha) and Magnitech (2.4l/ha) trace element spray on April 17. Currently at GS 32, his winter oats have greened up significantly over the past few weeks and were brought up 150kg N/ha on 20 April. The crop received its T1 this week of Medax Max (0.3kg/ha), K2 (1l/ha), Capello (1l/ha) and Jenton (1l/ha).
His winter wheat crops vary and N applications so far range from 112-160kg N/ha but will be brought up to 200kg N/ha within the next week. The crop is relatively clean so far and earlier in the month received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha), Zelogy Era (0.9l/ha), Medax Max (0.3kg/ha), K2 (1l/ha).
He is happy with his winter barley but when he applied its T1 in mid-April, there was a lot of rhynchosporium present on the crop. He applied Mandran (0.8l/ha) and Bravo (1l/ha) as well as Medax Max (0.25kg/ha) and K2 (1l/ha).
Poyntzpass,
Co Down
April has been a good month for field work, explains Simon, with rainfall totalling 58mm, most of which fell in three bursts. With temperatures reaching 21°C at the end of the month, his spring-sown crops have all emerged with high establishment rates.
Sowing was completed two weeks ago. He sowed Elyann spring oats at 150kg/ha. The seed had a TGW of 35g. The crop is due a spring herbicide, aphicide application and fertiliser this week. The crop will receive 60kg of N/ha.
Simon Best finishing sowing a headland with Elyann spring oats.
He also took delivery of a new 4m Horsch Express KR drill this spring. The drill has a front-mounted hopper with press wheels. The seed is piped back to 24 TurboDisc seed coulters. We visited Simon when he was drilling in April. You can watch the full video online. His spring beans have been slow to emerge but are now moving along well.
His Graham winter wheat received its T1 last week, consisting of Divexo (2l.ha), Proline (0.6l/ha) and Tempo (0.2l/ha). There’s an amount of yellow rust patches evident in the crop, which is unusual for him. The crop was topped up to 220kg N/ha this week. Simon explains it has been great weather for applying liquid N.
It also received 125kg/ha Muriate of Potash plus Wolf Trax manganese two weeks ago which was applied with his Sulky spreader. His is very pleased with his winter oats which are around GS 32. On April 12 they received a T1 of Capello (1.5l/ha) and Medax Max (0.35kg/ha). Due in part to the good growing conditions over the past two weeks, the crop is very lush and he intends to apply another growth regulator this week.
The crop was brought up to 150kg N/ha in two splits. He’s also conducting an N rate and timing trial on his oat crops with white oats and will assess the different treatments in terms of grain quality. More on this next month.
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and will receive its T2 in the coming week, mostly likely consisting of Proline (0.6l/ha).
Read more
Tillage acreage holds but spring sowings down
IFA Potato Report: potato planting continues around the country
Croom,
Co Limerick
Some 53mm of rain fell in Croom, Co Limerick, during April over a period of 15 days. From temperatures of 21°C to wind speeds of 84km/h during storm Hannah, April can only be described as a mixed month on John’s farm.
John Galvin discing a rolled cover crop before ploughing for maize.
However, there have been a lot of opportunities for work, explains John. He is happy with the progress with his crops, helped in part by the moisture and good temperatures.
Any yellowing and stress which was apparent in his crops last month have virtually disappeared, he explains. Last month he applied slurry on to some of his winter wheat and the crops have now recovered from any tracking and tramping which occurred. However, he hasn’t seen a huge difference in the crops which received slurry just yet.
Last week, he brought his winter wheat up to 200kg N/ha. The crop received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha), Moddus (1.25l/ha), Ascra Xpro (1.25l/ha) and manganese trace elements (0.5kg/ha) on 17 April.
His winter barley also received a T1 of Zephyr (0.75l/ha), Bravo (1l/ha), Moddus (0.1 l/ha) and manganese trace elements (0.5kg/ha). The crop received its last split of nitrogen (N) on 19 April and is now brought up to 180kg N/ha.
The flag leaf is at various stages of emergence on both his winter wheat and barley.
Maize preparation
He recently burned off (glyphosate 1.5l/ha) cover crops consisting of westerwolds, fodder rape and leafy turnip in anticipation of sowing maize.
The field will be rolled, disced and ploughed before drilling. The crop will be sown under plastic by a contractor later this week. Around 2,500g/ac of slurry was applied before ploughing and he will apply potash and urea to make up the balance.
Last week, he sowed Doubleshot spring wheat at 200kg/ha, which will be whole-cropped later in the year. The ground was ploughed, disced with a Macio 3m disc and sowed with a 4.8m Weaving drill. Around 370kg of 10:10:20 and 250kg N/ha was applied on to the seedbed before drilling and the field was rolled after.
Delvin,
Co Westmeath
“April hasn’t been too inconvenient for work,” explains Donal. A total of 50mm of rain fell on his farm during the month and came over four intervals. After lows of -2.5°C on 7 April, temperatures rose steadily to hit 21.4°C on April 20.
Donal O'Keeffe top-dressing spring barley after storm Hannah at the weekend.
He finished his spring cereal sowing three weeks ago having sowed Gangway and Planet spring barley for seed at between 180kgha and 190kg/ha. Most of the ground was disced once and sown directly with his Amazone one-pass.
Depending on the ground, it either received and application of 9.6:5.8:25, 10:10:20 or 18:6:12. All ground was rolled with a 3.6m flat roller. Last week he brought the crops up to 135kg N/ha using his mounted Rauch spreader. Spring beans were slow to emerge but once temperatures rose, they developed quickly. They received a pre-emerge herbicide of Stallion (3l/ha). As reported on last month’s From the Tramlines, he had difficulties direct drilling with a Weaving drill. As a result, two rows of seed had been placed into one row, leaving space of 25cm between each row. He plans to sow maize once the weather settles. More on this in next month’s instalment.
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and received Toprex (0.9l/ha) and Magnitech (2.4l/ha) trace element spray on April 17. Currently at GS 32, his winter oats have greened up significantly over the past few weeks and were brought up 150kg N/ha on 20 April. The crop received its T1 this week of Medax Max (0.3kg/ha), K2 (1l/ha), Capello (1l/ha) and Jenton (1l/ha).
His winter wheat crops vary and N applications so far range from 112-160kg N/ha but will be brought up to 200kg N/ha within the next week. The crop is relatively clean so far and earlier in the month received a T1 of Bravo (1l/ha), Zelogy Era (0.9l/ha), Medax Max (0.3kg/ha), K2 (1l/ha).
He is happy with his winter barley but when he applied its T1 in mid-April, there was a lot of rhynchosporium present on the crop. He applied Mandran (0.8l/ha) and Bravo (1l/ha) as well as Medax Max (0.25kg/ha) and K2 (1l/ha).
Poyntzpass,
Co Down
April has been a good month for field work, explains Simon, with rainfall totalling 58mm, most of which fell in three bursts. With temperatures reaching 21°C at the end of the month, his spring-sown crops have all emerged with high establishment rates.
Sowing was completed two weeks ago. He sowed Elyann spring oats at 150kg/ha. The seed had a TGW of 35g. The crop is due a spring herbicide, aphicide application and fertiliser this week. The crop will receive 60kg of N/ha.
Simon Best finishing sowing a headland with Elyann spring oats.
He also took delivery of a new 4m Horsch Express KR drill this spring. The drill has a front-mounted hopper with press wheels. The seed is piped back to 24 TurboDisc seed coulters. We visited Simon when he was drilling in April. You can watch the full video online. His spring beans have been slow to emerge but are now moving along well.
His Graham winter wheat received its T1 last week, consisting of Divexo (2l.ha), Proline (0.6l/ha) and Tempo (0.2l/ha). There’s an amount of yellow rust patches evident in the crop, which is unusual for him. The crop was topped up to 220kg N/ha this week. Simon explains it has been great weather for applying liquid N.
It also received 125kg/ha Muriate of Potash plus Wolf Trax manganese two weeks ago which was applied with his Sulky spreader. His is very pleased with his winter oats which are around GS 32. On April 12 they received a T1 of Capello (1.5l/ha) and Medax Max (0.35kg/ha). Due in part to the good growing conditions over the past two weeks, the crop is very lush and he intends to apply another growth regulator this week.
The crop was brought up to 150kg N/ha in two splits. He’s also conducting an N rate and timing trial on his oat crops with white oats and will assess the different treatments in terms of grain quality. More on this next month.
His winter oilseed rape is in full flower and will receive its T2 in the coming week, mostly likely consisting of Proline (0.6l/ha).
Read more
Tillage acreage holds but spring sowings down
IFA Potato Report: potato planting continues around the country
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