Harvesting stalled by intense rain

Yields of spring barley and winter wheat range from ordinary to excellent where harvesting progressed over the last week. However, quality is consistently good, with wheat crops of the highest specific weight for some years reported.

Very high weights over 80kph are seeing milling quality grain being delivered from the winter wheat crop. Yields vary widely from 5.5t/ac back to 3.5t/ac.

Some moderate yielding crops are still delivering big volumes of straw. Rusts that were evident earlier this year may have affected yield significantly.

Barley quality is also good, even where yields are 2.5t/acre. For every such crop, there is another over 3t/acre. Rainfall, particularly a good wetting for growing crops during the dry spells in late March/early April and June, seem to be a influencing factor in yield.

Malting barley protein levels continue to hover around the upper limit, in Boortmalt’s case 10.8% protein. Some crops are making the 9.3% revised protein limit for distillers contracts, but crops that received only 80 units of nitrogen/acre, while yielding well, are not always below this.

Harvesting is at a standstill since the heavy rains on Sunday and Monday, and there is concern about whether grain quality can be sustained through a prolonged delay.

The main fears are that barley will break down, and that protein levels will go up in barley and down in wheat and that specific weights will decrease. There are no reports of fusarium issues on barley.

Harvesting was virtually up to date when the weather broke, but straw baling lagged far behind, particularly in Munster and from Galway to Donegal.

The next week may prove pivotal to the 2017 harvest, with the hope that the intense rain, which flattened crops, particularly barley, oats, and beans, abates and the weather settles again.

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