Tillage: Sprint for harvest ending line this week

With the climate barely enhancing over the approaching days, many tillage farmers shall be making a splash for the harvest ending line, actually the place wheat is anxious.

Teagasc is strongly advising growers to focus on harvesting grain; getting winter wheat and related spring barley crops mixed is a precedence.

Later-sown crops of spring barley proceed to look disappointing for this harvest. Each grain and straw yields don’t look promising.

As well as, the robust prospect of those crops coming in with excessive protein values places a serious query mark on their suitability for brewing or distilling.

Thereafter, will probably be a case of baling straw and making preparation for the 2023/2024 winter oilseed rape planting season which is simply across the nook.

Met Éireann is predicting that prime stress will construct throughout the nation over the approaching days with temperatures to exceed 20°C tomorrow Wednesday (August 16) and Thursday (August 17).

Forage maize harvest

In the meantime, crops of forage maize stay heading in the right direction to supply large yields.

That is actually the case in Northern Eire, the place the full space devoted to the crop is estimated to be up 10%, year-on-year.

Maizetech’s Robert Duncan commented: “We additionally noticed a rise of an identical magnitude for 2021 into 2022. Driving all of this can be a mixture of two components – the return of growers and new farmers taking a look at maize for the primary time.”

In response to Duncan, the chilly and moist situations of late April into Could inspired arable farmers to take a look at maize, fairly than spring barley.

“And so they made the suitable resolution,” he continued.

“Sure, maize planted this 12 months was a fortnight or so behind the place crops would have been in 2022. However the dry, heat situations that adopted in June have been an actual sport changer.

“The moisture trapped beneath the movie put in place at planting meant that newly germinated crops had full entry to the warmth and moisture they wanted to maximise germination and subsequent early progress charges.”

Duncan particularly cites the supply of latest compostable movies as a key step ahead in maximising the potential of maize crops grown in Northern Eire.

“The brand new supplies present the younger crops with all of the safety that they want. However on the identical time, they permit the rising crops to interrupt by way of a lot simpler,” Duncan added.

“As a consequence, crop growth is by no means hindered.”

Beforehand, crops grown underneath the previous ‘oxo’ movies would have been susceptible to warmth stress during times of highly regarded climate.

Prior to now, growers would have had no possibility however to bodily minimize open the movie to permit the rising maize crops push by way of.

“That is not the case,” the Maizetech consultant defined.

“One other benefit of the brand new movies is that they’re extraordinarily biodegradable.

“Little or no proof of the movie used at planting shall be seen, above or beneath floor, 10 to 12 weeks after planting.”

Robert Duncan additionally factors to the truth that forage maize is not a marginal crop in Northern Eire when it comes to its harvest potential.

“Corporations like Pioneer have dedicated to breeding new maize varieties which might be completely suited to northern Europe and Scandinavia. And Northern Eire is benefiting accordingly on this regard,” he commented.

“It’s completely possible for native farmers to develop crops of maize that may produce between 16t to 18t of recent weight per acre. As well as, focusing on dry issues and starch values, every in extra of 30%, is equally possible.”

This 12 months ought to see the primary crops of regionally grown maize harvested throughout early October, assuming the climate performs ball over the approaching weeks.

“The new spell in June allowed later sown crops to compensate for what could be thought to be a standard growth profile,” Duncan added.

“However new crop administration choices are additionally permitting growers to maximise the potential of their funding in maize.

“One in all these is the applying of liquid nitrogen on maize on the 10-leaf stage. It is a actual sport changer.”