Take-all: The principle yield-robber this yr in Co. Down

Take-all has had a serious influence on each winter wheat and barley yields this yr, in accordance with Co. Down cereal grower, Graham Furey.

And the dry climate that was a function of June and July solely served to exacerbate the issue.

“Take-all impacts the roots of cereal crops, making water uptake poor sufficient at the very best of instances,” defined Furey, who grows a mixture of winter barley, wheat, oats and oilseed rape.

“So the dry climate within the weeks main as much as harvest magnified this situation. The tip outcome was a fall off in yields.”

He stated the illness had impacted wheat and barley crops in equal measure.

One upside to the persevering with dry climate has been growers’ means to get on with the 2022 harvest with out interruption.

“There aren’t any spring crops within the rotation nowadays,” stated Furey.

“Consequently, we completed combing per week in the past. Yields throughout all of the crops had been about common.”

The place winter barley is worried, an insecticide was utilized to all crops final autumn, as a method of holding Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) at bay.

“Usually, I wouldn’t go down this highway for environmental causes,” stated Furey.

“However the climate after planting final yr was extraordinarily gentle and there had been experiences of growers within the Co. Down space confirming giant numbers of aphids of their fields.

“I used an insecticide on the barley, very a lot as an insurance coverage coverage. With hindsight, it was the appropriate choice to take.”

A proportion of the 2022 cereal crop shall be bought over the approaching weeks with the rest stored in retailer.

“Costs are good nowadays. However there may be each chance of the markets strengthening additional over the approaching months,” stated Furey

“So it is sensible to place a proportion of the crop into retailer at this stage.”

He stated he doesn’t intend increasing his oilseed rape acreage for the 2022-2023 season.

“It may be a troublesome sufficient crop to develop , given our personal explicit circumstances,” he commented.

“However I do know quite a few growers who want to experiment with rape for the approaching season.

“Some have been in touch with me, looking for recommendation on how greatest to get crops established.”

General, it has been yr for cereal manufacturing, he stated, including: “And there’s a sturdy chance that the cropping space in Northern Eire might now begin to increase.”