Tillage management: good weather and plenty of work to do

There has been great weather in recent days and it is allowing tillage farmers to get out to the fields to get work done.

Siobhán Walsh

5 March 2025

Tillage management: good weather and plenty of work to do

Many farmers are now ploughing for spring barley.

WeatherThe weather in recent days has been great and allowed for fieldwork to be carried out and land to dry. A priority job was to get compound fertiliser onto winter barley and some more nitrogen onto forward crops, as well as nitrogen on oilseed rape. Planting beans is the next priority on the list, while farmers across the country are getting out to cultivate and some are already planting spring crops.

Weather

The weather in recent days has been great and allowed for fieldwork to be carried out and land to dry. A priority job was to get compound fertiliser onto winter barley and some more nitrogen onto forward crops, as well as nitrogen on oilseed rape. Planting beans is the next priority on the list, while farmers across the country are getting out to cultivate and some are already planting spring crops.

Beans

Those of you planting beans should be aiming for a plant count of 25-30 plants/m2. Multiply the thousand grain weight (TGW) by the target plant count and divide by 85% for establishment, amend if conditions aren’t optimal. Once beans are planted and if it is dry enough, roll the crop. There is some damper weather on the way which might be a time to get the pre-emergence herbicide onto crops. There are a number of options out there including products like Nirvana and Emerger. Pre-emergence offers the best control of weeds. Grass weeds can be controlled at a later date when the crop is up.

Spring cereals

There looks to be a break in the dry weather coming next week, but it may not be much. Conditions over the last 10 days or so have allowed for good drying and plenty of work to be done. It is great to get spring crops established in March to reduce barley yellow dwarf virus risk and to help to meet specifications for malting barley for example. Many of you will not be planting yet as land may not be dry or ploughing and cultivations may be underway. Make sure you have your seed ordered and delivered or collected where possible to ensure you get the variety you want. To calculate the seed rate you need to follow the following equation:

TGW × target plant population = Seed rate (kg/ha)

establishment %

So, if the TGW is 49 you multiply this by a target plant population of 280 plants/m2 and divide that by 85% establishment. The target plant count should increase to 300 plant/m2 after mid-March.

Growth regulator

Temperatures are becoming less extreme from night to day over the next few days. This makes it a better time to apply plant growth regulator where it is needed. Many winter barley varieties are early maturing so may need regulation now. Applying CeCeCe before GS30 might help barley and wheat crops to tiller out. At GS30 you will need a stronger product.

Apply some nutrition when you are going out where needed and in milder temperatures seaweed might help to reduce stress on the plant.

Oilseed rape

Crops that weren’t grazed may need a growth regulator. Strong crops will need something like Caryx. A fungicide may help to keep light leaf spot at bay. Proline is a good option or for something with a little bit of growth regulator effect you could use something with tebuconazole in it like Prosaro, but this is on lighter crops.