Weather

The cold conditions this week should help to reduce aphid numbers and activity in crops. While some crops have been growing well and perhaps will benefit from a slow down in growth, there are others emerging and under pressure from crows and slugs. In the cold weather, slugs may ease off but not completely and so you should continue to monitor crops for numbers. Crows need to be kept at bay, which is a difficult task. Keep frighteners out and bangers where needed. It is essential to have anti-freeze in sprayers and tractors during this weather. Make sure you have all machinery taken care of.

Weed control

Weed control won’t be as easy now. Crops are wet and ground conditions have disimproved after a great spell of weather, but many fields can take some rain still and there may be an opportunity to spray again relatively soon, if weather dries up and temperatures increase.

Hedge-cutting: Frosty mornings can be ideal for hedge-cutting. If ground is hard, it might be a good idea to get out to cut some hedges before it thaws out to mind your soil. Remember to take note of hedges that need to be maintained at a height of 1.8m or higher for ACRES.

Crop records

As the weather gets wetter and colder and field work slows down, make sure you have crop records up to date. You will need to have sowing dates, seed records and fertiliser, and spray applications recorded. Calculate crop yields and performance, and make a start on crop costs and returns and estimates for the year ahead.

ITLUS conference

The Irish Tillage and Land Use Society’s (ITLUS’s) Winter Conference takes place on Thursday 5 December in the Clanard Court Hotel, Athy, Co Kildare. Registration is from 9.15am and the conference kicks off at 10.15am. Ben Urquhart from Syngenta will talk about barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) resistance in varieties. John Dunne from Goldcrop will talk about genetic crop improvements for Irish growers. After lunch the Irish Farmers Journal’s Stephen Robb will talk about anaerobic digestion and tillage farms. Nigel Condell of Specialist Nutrition will talk about growing forage crops. Seán Callan from Co Louth will give the farmer’s perspective on this. The day will finish with details about Tillage Industry Ireland and a panel discussion. You can pre-book by emailing itlussec50@gmail.com. The conference, including lunch, costs €50 for members and €80 for non-members. Student non-members cost €30.

Home delivery

The Irish Farmers Journal is currently running an offer on our home delivery service. You can get the Irish Farmers Journal delivered to your door every Thursday and get access to articles online for €199/year. If you purchase this you get a free farm bucket of merchandise worth €110. There are different subscription offers available. You can call the office on 01-4199525 for more information or view the offers online at www.farmersjournal.ie/subscribe.