The National Crops Forum takes place this coming Tuesday, September 11, and will focus on one of the most topical issues at the moment – forage crops.
The opening session will have four main speakers. Teagasc’s Joe Patton will speak about forage needs for the future and opportunities that exist for the tillage farmer.
Is red clover an ideal tillage crop? Dan Clavin will ask this question and detail Teagasc’s point-of-view on the crop.
Trading forage crops
In addition, this season has opened up a whole new market for tillage farmers, as they sell forage crops to livestock farmers amid the current shortage.
Joe Patton, James Ashmore, Tom Curran and Teagasc tillage specialist Ciaran Collins will then take part in a panel discussion on the profitability of these crops and integrating them onto a tillage farm.
Variety selection
As always, the National Crops Forum provides information from the Department of Agriculture’s variety trials and gives farmers an opportunity to see what performed best in 2018.
John Joe Byrne from the department will take the audience through winter cereal varieties.
Grain market outlook
Finally, the forum will close with a topic on every tillage farmer’s mind – grain markets. James Nolan from R&H Hall takes over this session.
The National Crops Forum takes place on Tuesday, September 11, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm in Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare. It is a KT (Knowledge Transfer) approved event.