With movement restrictions still applying to us all, I took the liberty at the weekend to talk to John Dunne from Ballybane, Shanagarry, Co Cork, to get an update on the condition of his crops.
John hosts the Goldcrop trials and we spoke about the season to date, varieties and the growth stages and conditions of his crops.
Last backend was no different for John than it was for others. It was a struggle to get trials as well as crops in, but John got all his essential work done.
Winter oilseed rape was sown first and that was pretty much on time in late August. The crop grew well all year and is now nearly finished flowering.
Leatherjacket damage is reported from many parts of the country.
But it has been flowering for a long time and may have benefited from the prolonged good weather, John said. There are very few blank pod sites on the stems and this augers well for yield potential.
Disease was not a major issue, but there had been some early light leaf spot, so the crops were sprayed for foliar diseases and also for sclerotinia. John is happy to report that all of his commercial rape is looking very well.
Winter barley
His winter barley is a more mixed bag, just like everyone else. This crop was sown one to two weeks later than normal and while the plots look fine, commercial crops are a more mixed bunch.
Some crops were ploughed up and re-sown in the local area, but John did not replant any of his. But he does have patchy crops with some poor headlands also.
The winter barley varieties are now at various stages of awn and ear emergence.
While crops are patchy, John is happy to say that where the crops are good, they look very well and are full and healthy.
He had used some early nitrogen on this crop and he feels that it paid dividends when growth really cut in.
Awns are now visible in the crop and he feels that yield is only limited by patchiness.
Some of his crops received two fungicides, while others got three. This was partly to do with lateness and partly to do with perceived potential and disease levels.
There had been some rhyncho early in the season, but this has since dried up and now crops are clean, with no sign of ramularia yet either. He expects that the final fungicide is likely to go on next week.
Winter wheat
His success with winter wheat was much more limited. He got one set of trial plots planted in mid-November, but it was 3 December before he got back in to plant a second set of trials for variety screening.
The wheat is comparatively clean as a result of the late planting and much of this crop is not yet at third-last leaf unfolded stage – the critical stage for T1 or first fungicide application.
Early December-sown winter wheat plots are clean and coming up to GS32.
Some of his commercial wheat received its T1 fungicide this week. John sees no evidence of there being one less leaf on the plants from his later sowing, but acknowledges that some later crops have one less leaf. Knowing this is critical to the correct timing of the T1 fungicide.
As of now, John sees no real difference between the pace of growth or the growth stages of the range of varieties present for either of the sowing dates.
And there is no sign of rust on crops in his area, but the northerly wind last weekend might change this situation, which will need to be watched.
Winter beans
This commercial crop was sown on 4 December with a Sumo machine to get the seeds down a good 10cm to help keep away the crows.
It is now flowering and received its first fungicide two weeks ago. The crops itself is about 45cm to 50cm tall at this point.
Winter bean establishment was very good. Crops have been growing well all spring and are now well into flowering.
John hopes that the later planting date will decrease pressure from chocolate spot. Crows were not a problem at all and he ended up with better establishment than expected.
There had been some downy mildew in the crop earlier, but it has now grown away from it.
While farmers in many parts of the country have been suffering from dryness now for many weeks, growers across the southern half of the country have had good intermittent spills of rain to give excellent establishment and subsequent growth.
The spring has been as good as the winter was difficult, John said.
Conditions were so good and dependable that it was easy to wait for conditions to be just right before doing any job.
“It was a dream spring,” he stated.
Spring barley
Crops were sown in good time and had excellent establishment.
The barley is now at the mid- to late-tillering stage and will soon be ready for the first fungicide. John reported that there is now some manganese deficiency evident as crops have been growing rapidly for the last few weeks.
However, most crops suffered a bit from the impact of recent spray mixes of insecticide and herbicide and this left a level of scald on crops up and down the country. But they are growing out of this now.
John told me that he has already seen some blotches of rhyncho about and other growers are reporting very early net blotch. But there has been a good bit of rain in the south towards most other areas.
John said that Planet looks paler than Gangway in the field, but this is the natural colour difference between the two varieties.
Spring wheat and oats
Both crops are looking very well, having been sown in late March to early April.
They are both at mid-tillering stage and clean.
John is worried about mildew infection, given that they have heat and moisture, but, so far, everything is clean.
He said that he might consider Talius to keep mildew out of the wheat and is concerned about growth regulator application timing on the oats, as growth could be quite soft for a while.
Maize and beet
Maize crops were sown early and in good conditions.
John said that there are still some crops to be sown in the open, but most are under plastic. The expectation is that the overall area will be back about 15% this year due to a lack of demand.
Beet crops are all planted in the area and the weather was kind to them with frequent rain.
John told me that they have some Conviso-tolerant variety trials at sites on farms around the country for demonstration purposes.
The overall area of fodder beet is also expected to be back, but not by as much as maize.
Spring beans
These crops were also sown in late March to early April. Establishment was very good and crops now have three pairs of true leaves.
John said that most crops in the area were sprayed for weevil, as there was a lot of notching visible.
Dry conditions after planting left concern for residual herbicide activity, but they did work eventually, helped by the intermittent rain.
In brief
Winter crops suffer from patchiness and headland damage, but they remain relatively free of disease.Winter oilseed rape is clean, almost finished flowering and it looks promising.Spring crops established very well and intermittent rain has helped subsequent growth to give nice even crops at the mid- to late-tillering stage.
With movement restrictions still applying to us all, I took the liberty at the weekend to talk to John Dunne from Ballybane, Shanagarry, Co Cork, to get an update on the condition of his crops.
John hosts the Goldcrop trials and we spoke about the season to date, varieties and the growth stages and conditions of his crops.
Last backend was no different for John than it was for others. It was a struggle to get trials as well as crops in, but John got all his essential work done.
Winter oilseed rape was sown first and that was pretty much on time in late August. The crop grew well all year and is now nearly finished flowering.
Leatherjacket damage is reported from many parts of the country.
But it has been flowering for a long time and may have benefited from the prolonged good weather, John said. There are very few blank pod sites on the stems and this augers well for yield potential.
Disease was not a major issue, but there had been some early light leaf spot, so the crops were sprayed for foliar diseases and also for sclerotinia. John is happy to report that all of his commercial rape is looking very well.
Winter barley
His winter barley is a more mixed bag, just like everyone else. This crop was sown one to two weeks later than normal and while the plots look fine, commercial crops are a more mixed bunch.
Some crops were ploughed up and re-sown in the local area, but John did not replant any of his. But he does have patchy crops with some poor headlands also.
The winter barley varieties are now at various stages of awn and ear emergence.
While crops are patchy, John is happy to say that where the crops are good, they look very well and are full and healthy.
He had used some early nitrogen on this crop and he feels that it paid dividends when growth really cut in.
Awns are now visible in the crop and he feels that yield is only limited by patchiness.
Some of his crops received two fungicides, while others got three. This was partly to do with lateness and partly to do with perceived potential and disease levels.
There had been some rhyncho early in the season, but this has since dried up and now crops are clean, with no sign of ramularia yet either. He expects that the final fungicide is likely to go on next week.
Winter wheat
His success with winter wheat was much more limited. He got one set of trial plots planted in mid-November, but it was 3 December before he got back in to plant a second set of trials for variety screening.
The wheat is comparatively clean as a result of the late planting and much of this crop is not yet at third-last leaf unfolded stage – the critical stage for T1 or first fungicide application.
Early December-sown winter wheat plots are clean and coming up to GS32.
Some of his commercial wheat received its T1 fungicide this week. John sees no evidence of there being one less leaf on the plants from his later sowing, but acknowledges that some later crops have one less leaf. Knowing this is critical to the correct timing of the T1 fungicide.
As of now, John sees no real difference between the pace of growth or the growth stages of the range of varieties present for either of the sowing dates.
And there is no sign of rust on crops in his area, but the northerly wind last weekend might change this situation, which will need to be watched.
Winter beans
This commercial crop was sown on 4 December with a Sumo machine to get the seeds down a good 10cm to help keep away the crows.
It is now flowering and received its first fungicide two weeks ago. The crops itself is about 45cm to 50cm tall at this point.
Winter bean establishment was very good. Crops have been growing well all spring and are now well into flowering.
John hopes that the later planting date will decrease pressure from chocolate spot. Crows were not a problem at all and he ended up with better establishment than expected.
There had been some downy mildew in the crop earlier, but it has now grown away from it.
While farmers in many parts of the country have been suffering from dryness now for many weeks, growers across the southern half of the country have had good intermittent spills of rain to give excellent establishment and subsequent growth.
The spring has been as good as the winter was difficult, John said.
Conditions were so good and dependable that it was easy to wait for conditions to be just right before doing any job.
“It was a dream spring,” he stated.
Spring barley
Crops were sown in good time and had excellent establishment.
The barley is now at the mid- to late-tillering stage and will soon be ready for the first fungicide. John reported that there is now some manganese deficiency evident as crops have been growing rapidly for the last few weeks.
However, most crops suffered a bit from the impact of recent spray mixes of insecticide and herbicide and this left a level of scald on crops up and down the country. But they are growing out of this now.
John told me that he has already seen some blotches of rhyncho about and other growers are reporting very early net blotch. But there has been a good bit of rain in the south towards most other areas.
John said that Planet looks paler than Gangway in the field, but this is the natural colour difference between the two varieties.
Spring wheat and oats
Both crops are looking very well, having been sown in late March to early April.
They are both at mid-tillering stage and clean.
John is worried about mildew infection, given that they have heat and moisture, but, so far, everything is clean.
He said that he might consider Talius to keep mildew out of the wheat and is concerned about growth regulator application timing on the oats, as growth could be quite soft for a while.
Maize and beet
Maize crops were sown early and in good conditions.
John said that there are still some crops to be sown in the open, but most are under plastic. The expectation is that the overall area will be back about 15% this year due to a lack of demand.
Beet crops are all planted in the area and the weather was kind to them with frequent rain.
John told me that they have some Conviso-tolerant variety trials at sites on farms around the country for demonstration purposes.
The overall area of fodder beet is also expected to be back, but not by as much as maize.
Spring beans
These crops were also sown in late March to early April. Establishment was very good and crops now have three pairs of true leaves.
John said that most crops in the area were sprayed for weevil, as there was a lot of notching visible.
Dry conditions after planting left concern for residual herbicide activity, but they did work eventually, helped by the intermittent rain.
In brief
Winter crops suffer from patchiness and headland damage, but they remain relatively free of disease.Winter oilseed rape is clean, almost finished flowering and it looks promising.Spring crops established very well and intermittent rain has helped subsequent growth to give nice even crops at the mid- to late-tillering stage. 
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