Weather

It’s been a busy few days for many. Beans were cut in a few places at the end of last week when Thursday and Friday brought wind and sunshine. There was also some beet being lifted, while potato harvesting and winter cereal planting continued.

There are still a lot of crops to be harvested across the country. There is showery weather in the forecast that may delay work at times. It is to be warmer in the coming days than it has been.

Sowing

There are plenty of winter cereal crops being planted, and farmers are making the most of the good conditions to get crops in. The seed rate should be adjusted as the season goes on.

As you move into the second half of October, Teagasc estimates the establishment percentage at about 75%. This will of course depend on weather and soil conditions. On barley, aim for a plant count of 300 plants/m². This means you need 400 seeds at 75% establishment to meet the 300 plants/m².

At a thousand grain weight of 55, that brings the seed rate to 220kg/ha or 14st/ac. Many winter barley varieties have a high thousand grain weight this season, so keep an eye on that.

There are a lot of crops to be harvested still and this is delaying winter planting for some, as they want to plant winter crops after beans or potatoes. However, ground conditions are still good for planting, and crops can continue to be planted while ground conditions allow.

If you have not ordered seed for some crops, then you should do so as soon as possible to make sure you have it when you want to plant it. Winter cropping area is likely to increase a little bit this year with the good conditions.

Weed control

Many winter barley crops are now up. Some are only emerging. Do not spray crops with herbicide as they emerge. Wait until they are fully emerged. If crops are not up, then a pre-emergence herbicide can be applied and is very good for grass weed control.

Otherwise, you will likely use the same product post-emergence. You should talk to your adviser on the best method of control, as different weeds will require different chemicals. Firebird Met can be used where groundsel is an issue. If black grass is a problem then Avadex Factor can be used in a mix.

It needs to be applied pre-emergence and cannot be applied after the crop has emerged. It claims to control wild oats and moderate populations of black grass and Italian ryegrass, so it is not a solution for full blackgrass control.

If blackgrass is a big problem, then a break crop like oilseed rape or beans should be planted in those fields where possible to have a different herbicide to control it. Spring planting and ploughing will also reduce blackgrass numbers.

If there are volunteers or grass weeds in oilseed rape then those crops can be sprayed now with a grass weed spray like Falcon, Fusilade Max or Stratos Ultra.