Tillage: BYDV-tolerant winter barley varieties yielding well
Drummonds has confirmed that barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV)-tolerant varieties of winter barley have performed well this year.
“The harvest is well underway in the Louth and north Dublin areas,” said the head of Drummonds, Michael Howard.
He continued: “Barley is yielding from just short of 3t per acre up to 4t.
“The first of this year’s winter oat crops have also been cut. Yields here are coming in at just less than 4t/ac. However, grain quality is very good.
“In addition, the first winter oilseed rape crops of the year have just been harvested, but it’s too early yet to confirm yield figures.”
Meanwhile, Teagasc has confirmed that the winter barley harvest will be wrapped up this week.
Head of Teagasc’s Crops Knowledge Transfer department, Michael Hennessy, outlined:
“Barley yields are in the range 2½t up to 4t/c. We are expecting the average yield figure to come in at around 3.6t/ac.
“Some winter oat crops have been harvested, and here both yields and grain quality are good. The winter oilseed rape harvest is just starting.”
Winter wheat crops continue to mature with a projected harvest date of mid-August now the target in most instances.
The earliest of this year’s spring barley crops should be ripe by the end of August, however the bulk of the spring cereal harvest will take place in September.
Significantly, Hennessy believes that a significant proportion of the straw produced in Ireland this year will be chopped.
This is despite the baling option that is now available courtesy of the modified Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM).
“Most of the winter barley straw will be baled and sold on,” he indicated.
“But many tillage farmers are now out of the loop when it comes to selling straw. Growers will also be looking ahead to the new planting season.
“The first of the 2024/25 oilseed rape crops will be planted out in about three weeks’ time. I sense that a lot of the straw produced from later harvested cereals will be chopped.
“Farmers will not want bales lying around fields and being prevented from getting on with the 2024/25 cropping season.”
The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed it will be publishing full details of the amended SIM over the coming days.
The scheme now includes a baling option, with an associated payment of €175/ha.
