From the tramlines: harvest starts as dry weather continues to bite

The true spread of the Irish grain harvest can be seen this week. The winter barley harvest has begun for Cork-based Stephen Collins, which is 10 days earlier than normal. On the opposite end of the country, Derry-based Richard Kane’s winter barley is still two to three weeks away from harvest. Meanwhile, Meath grower Martin Hoste continues to come under significant pressure for moisture.

Clonee, Co Meath

Dry and hot describes the weather in Clonee over the past four weeks. Virtually no rain has fallen over the past two months. Ground is really dry and you can now see the stress on Martin’s spring beans, barley and winter wheat. His meadow ground, which was mowed three weeks ago, has seen no regrowth since then.

Winter crops in the area are coming in fast, and a number of his neighbours have started harvesting winter barley. Martin’s wheat crop remains variable. Crops on drier patches of fields are dying whereas crops on heavier ground remains in reasonable condition. Three weeks ago, the crop received a head spray of Cello (1.25l/ha), Rogor L40 (0.8l/ha), Novok (4.0l/ha) and Magnite (2.0l/ha). First wheats after beans remain much greener. His Graham crops look heavy and won’t take much weather, explains Martin.

Last week, Martin applied Magnite (3.0l/ha) and Nauturhumus-Bio Fluvic (2.0l/ha). This is very much a trial, explains Martin. “Were trying everything to keep the plant alive and green.” His winter oilseed rape is looking very well. The crop has branched well, has plenty of pods and Martin thinks in another week to 10 days’ time the crop will be burned off.

Spring beans holding their own

The lower leaves of Martin’s Lynx spring beans are beginning to die due to stress but the rest of plant remains in good condition. The crop stands at around 4ft and pods are higher in the stem this year. Last week, the crop received an application of Ridomal Gold (1.2kg/ha) followed by Magnite (3.0l/ha) and Nauturhumus-Bio Fluvic (3.0l/ha). Overall, Martin is happy with his crop.

Spring barley crops are mixed. The condition of the crop is largely influenced by soil type. Better areas of the fields are doing OK but crops on poor areas are much thinner and shorter. All crops are under pressure for moisture, however. Two weeks ago, the crop received an application of Cello (1.0l/ha), Stefonil (1.0l/ha), Life Scientifica Lambada (0.05l/ha), Novok (3.0l/ha) and Magnite (2.0l/ha). All spraying was done after 9pm.

“If we get any bit of a drop of rain at all it’ll definitely fill the grain on winter wheat. I’ve seen it happen before.”

Mogeely, Co Cork

The hot weather in Mogeely over the past few weeks meant that crops came in much quicker than planned. As a result, the harvest is 10 days earlier than normal, the earliest ever in Stephen’s lifetime.

Stephen began harvesting winter barley this week. “Yields are as I expected given how quickly the crops ripened.”

Initial yields are in the region of 3.3-3.7 t/ac with good bushel weights ranging from 65-66 KPH and low moistures of around 13-14%.

Harvesting with his five-walker John Deere T560 combine with a 22ft header has been a pleasure so far this year due to the good conditions. Grains from the first fields harvested are smaller than average as they didn’t get the chance to fully fill.

Straw yields appear to be back on last year. The crop is relatively dead meaning the straw can be baled without turning. “Baling winter barley has been straightforward this year in comparison to other years,” explains Stephen.

A very dry June

Just 12mm of rain fell on the farm in June. Spring crops looked reasonable when T2s were applied 10 days ago but Stephen is less than sure how they will hold up in the continued absence of rain. However, Stephen is unsure if rain at this stage would benefit those crops.

In some of his Irina barley crops, there appears to be a high level of BYDV present. Ten days ago, the crops received their T2 consisting of either Ceriax (1.5l/ha) or Elatus Era (0.6l/ha) plus Bravo (1.0l/ha) and EPSO Combitop. Stephen’s spring wheat, however, is looking very well. The crop received a head spray of Prosaro (1.2l/ha) and Rogor L40 (0.5l/ha) at the end of June. His fodder beet is showing no real signs of moisture stress yet and only received a two-spray herbicide programme this year.

This week, his winter oilseed rape will be desiccated and also received a podsticker. Some suspected seed weevils are present in the crop. Winter wheat is still looking well but is also ripening early.

“Overall, it looks like straw yields will be well back on normal and I may not have enough straw to meet demand.”

Limavady, Co Derry

Despite the lack of rainfall in the northwest over the past five to six weeks, all of Richards’s crops are looking surprisingly healthy. While the surface is bone dry, there is still some moisture in the ground due to a number of deluges of rain early last month. This, along with a number of applications of micronutrients, has been enough to keep crops healthy during the hot weather, according to Richard.

This week, Richard will host an AHDB/AFBI variety open day showcasing some of the 45 varieties of winter barley and 50 varieties of winter wheat on his farm. His own winter barley is still some way away from harvest.

“We’re still a good week to 10 days away from burning off our crops. We’re not going to be any earlier than normal,” Richard explains. The crop remains mixed after the tough winter but the better crops are looking well.

His winter wheat remains in very good health with no signs of drought stress visible yet. The crop is still six weeks away from harvest. His small area of winter oilseed rape will be desiccated next week.

80% of spring barley excellent

Some of his spring barley on ground following potatoes is short and thin but 80% of his crops are in very good order. Disease pressure remains low and Richard questioned the merits of applying a robust head spray due to the settled weather. He cut his fungicide spend by 20-30% this year.

He generally waits until the ear is fully emerged before applying the head spray. Around one-third of the barley has received their T2 consisting of Siltra (0.5l/ha), Himag (2.0l/ha) as well as a phosphite foliar spray (1.0l/ha).

At early flowering, his Willow and Quintus spring wheat remains very clean. This week the crop will receive an application of Proline (0.3-0.4l/ha) and tebuconazole (0.5l/ha) as well as an application of micro nutrients.

His spring oilseed rape flowered for around a month and the petals have now shed.

“It’s been such a long settled spell that the fear now is that the weather could break before any cutting is done at all.”

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