Kerry is not looked upon as a tillage stronghold, but it has some small pockets of committed growers. These growers are producing high yields according to Teagasc.

Kerry farmers produced the highest spring barley yields in the country in 2024. Speaking at the first ever tillage conference held by Kerry Dairy Ireland Teagasc tillage specialist Ciarán Collins detailed some yield results.

The national average yield of spring barley in 2024 was 7.3t/ha (2.95t/ac). The average spring barley yield in Kerry was 8.6t/ha (3.36t/ac). That’s 1.3t/ha (0.41t/ac) over the national average yield.

Ciarán described the yields as “exceptional” and commented that temperatures and a longer growing season may have contributed to this. He added that Kerry was the only county in Ireland to surpass 2022 yields. In 2022, the national average spring barley yield was 8.1t/ha (3.28t/ac).

The Teagasc specialist noted that the county can often face challenges at harvest time for spring crops as the season can be long and weather at harvest can be tricky.

The yield of spring oats in Kerry was also marginally ahead of the national average in 2024. Ciarán showed a graph with recent yields of winter barley and there was huge variability. In 2023, winter barley in Kerry yielded above the national average, but was below it in 2022.

He noted that spring barley may be a better option than winter barley in terms of consistency and costs, but winter barley is important to spread workload and reduce the amount of harvesting to be done at one time in a wet year.

Ciarán said farmers must ensure that they are compliant with crop diversification requirements, or the two- and three-crop rule, which is back in place this season.

Spring barley yields have been consistent in Kerry. He added that it is likely to stay that way as there is a great selection of varieties coming through.