Wet to very wet

The first 10 days of October have not been easy for planting but yet there has been a lot of sowing done. Virtually all the met stations in the tillage regions had more than an inch of rain up to 10 October, Dublin Airport being the exception with 18.5mm.

Most areas were between 25 and 35mm but Athenry and Malin Head had over 60mm. Interestingly, stations in the southeast and down into Cork have only received 51-56% of average annual rainfall to date.

Most planting is now being done behind the plough and so it is a relatively typical planting season so far.

Most growers should still try to get some crops sown in winter because there is no guarantee of good planting weather in spring either. Avoid planting crops in risky slots as the cost of production is too high for risks.

Growth conditions remain reasonable but soil temperatures have dropped considerably in the past week. They could rise again, but if not it will mean slower establishment with added risks from crows and slugs.

I have heard of a significant increase in slug activity in recent weeks, since the weather got wet.

Planting

Winter cereal planting is in full swing, with ground still in good condition behind the plough. Good drying conditions at times this week could enable further drilling by min-till and direct drill also.

As we move into the second half of October it is relatively safe to drill where take-all is a risk, but later is still safer if you can wait another week or so. Take-all risk is likely to be lower when soil temperature drops.

Try to get as much winter grain as possible planted into suitable rotational slots.

Plant winter barley at around 190 kg/ha (12.2 st/ac) to target 380 seed/m2 to establish over 320 plants/m2 from 50g seed. If ground conditions become very good again you could use 10-15kg/ha less seed.

Always factor seed size into seeding rate because smaller seeds need less weight to sow a target seed number and vice versa for bigger seeds. Adjust seeding rate for ground conditions and likely establishment level.

Plant hybrid barley at 220-225 seeds/m2. This crop is more resilient in somewhat poorer establishment conditions so there should be no need to up the seed rate yet.

Drill oats at 350-380 seeds/m2 or 125-140 kg/ha (8-9 st/ac) for 35g seed, assuming good establishment. Add at least 10% to seed rates if crows are a serious threat.

Plant winter wheat around 280-320 seeds/m2 – 140-160 kg/ha (9-10 st/ac) for 50g seed assuming good planting conditions. Increase seeding rate by 10-15% where conditions at planting are less favourable.

Post-sowing

Continue to roll post-sowing where conditions are good enough. Don’t do it if seedbed conditions are not good enough and certainly do not double roll parts of headlands.

If you expect a problem with slugs or other pests, rolling at right angles to the direction of ploughing will generally give better firming to slow their movement.

Crows could quickly begin to pose a threat as temperatures drop but this should be diluted where there is a lot of planting being done in the local area.