Plenty of tillage events across the country

January is generally a very busy time for tillage events and 2023 is no different.

There are plenty of tillage events on over the next couple of days and weeks.

The first of these events kicks off on 10 January.

Seed trade seminars

The Irish Seed Trade Association will run a series of seminars on 10, 11 and 12 January with the theme of 'Securing future standard and supply for arable farming'.

Market consultant Pádraig Brennan will look at markets and threats and opportunities that exist in these markets.

John Mahon of Teagasc will aim to develop skills and knowledge to help farmers to identify blackgrass, while staff from the Department of Agriculture’s seed division will remind attendees of the official seed standards and members of the Irish Seed Trade Association will explain some of the protocols its members adhere to when assembling seed and some new measures which have come into place.

Andy Doyle of the Irish Farmers Journal will host a panel discussion at the end of each event.

Each event runs from 10.30am to 2.30pm. The full list of events is as follows:

Dairygold tillage conference

Dairygold will host its annual tillage conference in Corrin Mart on Friday 13 January.

The theme of this year’s conference is 'Feed our soil to feed our people'.

It kicks off at 2pm and speakers on the day include John Geraghty, a lecturer and soils expert from South East Technological University Waterford, as well as Teagasc tillage specialist Ciarán Collins and managing partner of Southern Harvest Romanian Holdings Jim McCarthy.

The overall winner of the Dairygold malting barley competition will be announced on the day.

Teagasc National Tillage Conference

The Teagasc National Tillage Conference will take place on Wednesday 25 January this year. The conference opens at 9.45am. Some parts of the conference are available to view online.

There are five sessions throughout the day. Cereal disease management will be the focus of one session. There is expected to be great interest in the update on barley yellow dwarf virus management and research.

One of the features available to view online is the session on future added value opportunities in the plant protein space. There will be six five-minute presentations giving an insight into some of the research under way at Oak Park.

Integrated weed management will be the focus of another session. This will be available online and is a must for all, as the threat of grass weeds on farms is increasing all of the time.

Agronomy and business conference for arable growers

This arable conference is organised by CAFRE, the Ulster Arable Society and the Ulster Farmers’ Union and runs from 9.30am to 4pm on 31 January at CAFRE, Greenmount Campus.

Speakers at the conference include Olly Harrison who is famous for his work on Youtube, David Eudall from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board will talk grain markets, while Lorcan Bourke from Bord Bia will talk about potato and field vegetable markets.

In the afternoon, Liam Woulfe from Grassland Agro will talk fertiliser markets, while there will also be presentations on liquid fertiliser, biostimulants and a research update.

Energy and costs are the final topics up for discussion and there will be a panel discussion at the end of the day.