The harvest began in Westmeath over the weekend with the winter barley. Alex says that yields are hovering around 3.5t/ac so far. There are late green tillers in the crop, with more where nitrogen was applied late to the crop, due to poor spring weather.

Alex notes that the crows seem very hungry. It is very easy for them to land in wet spots and wider than usual tramlines this year.

The winter oilseed rape is beginning to ripen. Alex is happier with this crop and thinks it will do well as the pods are well filled.

The organic winter oats should ripen in at the same time as the oilseed rape. It is standing reasonably well, with less than 5% lodged.

There are no broadleaved weeds and only a few grassy areas, so Alex thinks it should be straightforward to harvest.

Alex is pretty happy with his winter wheat. The crop is very clean and filling away nicely. If the sun appears in the next couple of weeks, Alex thinks the crop has great potential.

Some of the spring beans look excellent, but some are struggling where soil fertility is poor.

They have lots of flowers on them and were sprayed with Signum two weeks ago.

The final fungicide was applied to the spring barley two weeks ago. Alex says it is really easy to see the difference in fields where the soil was in good condition at sowing and where the seedbed was a bit sticky.

Alex is very happy with his organic spring oats. They look very promising, especially the earlier-sown fields. The maize has done very well considering the cool weather. It’s well past knee height, and is quite similar to where it was last year.

The spring oilseed rape is in flower. Alex says the crop looks very good and he is really happy with it, especially when it was sown so late.

The winter barley harvest got under way in Tipperary on Friday evening, with Pa managing to get cutting for a few hours before a shower of rain arrived.

He then continued over the weekend and hopes to get more cut this week.

Pa says the crop was not fully ripe and while it was still standing, it was starting to break down already so he wants to get it harvested quickly. Despite this, the crop is threshing well and there are no heads being left behind.

The moisture content was between 22% and 24% at the beginning but it has fallen to 19.8%.

Grain quality seems to be quite good, with two-row KWS Tardis coming in at a KPH of 69, and Pa expects this to rise further as the crop ripens in and the moisture levels fall.

Early indications show a yield of around 4t/ac. Pa says there is a good row of straw behind the combine and expects a decent amount of bales.

It will all be needed this year and while he has all of his straw already sold, Pa says he could sell more if he had it.

The winter oats will be ripe by the time Pa has finished the winter barley. There is no lodging and it looks like a good crop. The winter wheat is also beginning to turn. The lush green colour has begun to fade over the past number of days.

The winter oilseed rape is also beginning to turn in. However, it is a very green, heavy crop so Pa expects that it will take a good while to ripen in.

He is happy with the crop and the pods have filled very well over the past number of weeks.

The spring oats and barley are into grain fill. The crops look quite good considering the year they have had. The canopies seem quite full and Pa is hopeful of a good yield if the weather between now and harvest is favourable.

Monday marked the start of the winter barley for Neill and he has continued cutting in the past few days, trying to get as much cut as possible before the rain was to arrive on Wednesday night.

With an increased acreage this year, he was keen to get moving to make the most of the few fine days and ensure that he harvests all his crops in good time.

On Monday, he harvested the headlands of many of his fields so that they could be baled yesterday to leave the headlands clear before the rain, reducing the need for the raking and drying of straw after getting wet.

While Neill had not finished harvesting any full fields when speaking to him, according to the combine yield monitor and trailer weights across the weighbridge, the crop is doing about 4t/ac at 20% moisture content. This is a six-row hybrid variety, SY Canyon.

Neill is very pleased with this, especially in a year with very little sunshine. He says there is a huge swath of straw behind the combine too.

Away from the harvest, the winter wheat is beginning to turn in. While parts of the crop are leaning over, which Neill is taking as a good sign, there is minimal lodging. He just hopes that it stays standing until harvest now.

Pods

The spring beans are filling nicely, with plenty of pods on each plant. It remains relatively clean, but there is some chocolate spot on the upper leaves which did not receive any fungicide.

The foliar N that Neill had applied to the maize when last speaking to him has worked very well. The crop went from being very stressed to a lush dark green colour in a matter of days.

The crop is now between shoulder and head height, and Neill is happy with its progress.