Tillage farmers need rain to maintain crop growth - agronomist
Tillage farmers need rain over the coming days to maintain crop growth rates. But this is only part of the story.
According to Teagasc specialist, Shay Phelan: “Potato and beet growers will be spraying contact herbicides on their respective crops over the coming days.
“And rain will be required to allow these chemicals do their work.
“Some rain is expected over the coming days. But I am not sure if it will be enough to meet crop and farmers’ requirements at the present time.”
Met Éireann is forecasting more unsettled weather in certain parts of the country through Sunday and the early days of next week. After that, high pressure will take control once again.
The current dry spell has succeeded in reducing the disease threat within most cereal crops.
But there is one very obvious and significant threat to this rule-of-thumb - yellow rust in winter wheat.
“Varieties such as Thorpe and Spearhead are very susceptible to the disease," Phelan explained.
“And it’s very much a case of farmers walking their fields now and checking the bottom leaves of their crops.
“If yellow rust is present, it will quickly spread to the upper canopy where it can wreak real havoc in terms of final yields, if not treated as a matter of priority.
“It is critically important to deal with yellow rust before flag leaf emergence."
If there are live pustules on the leaves, then the Teagasc advice for growers is to consider applying tebuconazole +/- Comet to give 7-10 days control until the flag leaf fungicide application is due.
Meanwhile, the jury is out as to the area of maincrop potatoes planted out in Ireland this year.
Phelan said he hopes the final figure is down on last year, as potato prices have dropped over recent weeks.
“The last thing that growers need is for a glut of potatoes to be overhanging the market later in the season," he said.
“My clear advice to farmers is to only commit to the potato acreage that matches the customer outlets they actually have.
“Speculative growing is in nobody’s interest.”
And, finally, the 2025 Teagasc crops open day is planned for Wednesday, June 25 at the Teagasc Crops Research Centre in Oak Park, Carlow.
This year’s event will cover the latest research on all the main tillage crops and horticultural field crops.
It will also include a major machinery demonstration, with a particular focus on sprayers and the technology available for more accurate applications.
