Harvest

The end of last weekend brought a much-needed spell of weather which saw plenty of work done. A lot of spring crops are now cut, but there are plenty more to go under the knife and many which are another bit away.

The forecast for the coming days is showery, but hopefully more progress will be made into the weekend.

Thankfully yields are good and a lot of crops are passing for malting barley, which will make a difference to profits.

It is also important to note that glyphosate cannot be sprayed pre-harvest unless grass weeds are an issue, and cannot be sprayed on any crops destined for the food or drinks chain.

So malting barley and oats for milling need to be left unsprayed or else they are out of the premium market. There is a lot of work to be done with straw that’s on the ground from the weekend. Remember the costs of turning when you are pricing bales.

Stubbles

As land is cleared and where heavy rain has dried off then cultivate stubbles that need to be done. From driving the roads I can see that a lot of fields have been tilled.

You do not need to cultivate land destined for winter crops by 31 October and you can leave 20-25% untilled as a habitat for birds until 1 February or until a crop is planted.

These rules only apply to Cork, Tipperary, Waterford and Leinster (excluding Longford). Organic farmers do not have to comply.

Cover crops

If you are planting cover crops under ACRES or otherwise, then the sooner they are planted the better to maximise growth. Oilseed rape is possibly the best cover crop you could grow as it will be a cash crop.

It can be planted up to mid-September and will provide a good break crop and will help to spread the workload during the year.

Hedge cutting

You can now cut hedges on farms. It’s Hedgerow Week this week, so if you are cutting the advice is to let hedges grow up to 1.8m for birds and cut them at an angle to allow light in.

It’s important to have a mix of habitats on your farm, so some hedges can be managed and others allowed to grow tall or just to be a line of trees. It’s a fine balance on leaving hedges uncut.

The wet weather of the last few autumns has made it a difficult task, so there may be some which were left and need trimming more than others. Cutting fields for winter crops and leaving others until later or until next season will leave a food supply for the birds.

Tillage Day

This week we launched Tillage Day. It will take place on 7 November. Farmers, agronomists and industry experts will take part in discussions throughout the day and focus on positive changes that can be made inside the farm gate.

Very importantly, it will be a day to meet with other farmers and meet with the trade in the exhibition area. Tickets are €49.99 and can be purchased with a €10 discount using the code TILLAGEDAY at ifj.ie/tillageday or by phoning 014199525.