The harvest kicked into full swing at the weekend as dry and sunny weather allowed for a run at work. However, showers in some areas on Monday and foggy weather on Tuesday put a stop to work in areas.
Winter barley, spring barley, winter oats, oilseed rape and winter wheat all went under the knife in different parts of the country and reports are mixed.
Secondary growth is causing issues for cutting and is slowing down combine operators.
On the quality side spring barley is struggling to hit malting standards. From protein to green grains to skinned grains farmers are having a tough time getting the crop across the line. Early quality in winter wheat is looking good.
Below is a round up of some of the yields reported to AgriLand over the past few days.
Midlands
In the midlands, reports from spring barley crops are around 2.5t/ac or less, while some crops did almost hit the 3t/ac mark. Moisture contents are coming in at 19-20%, while KPH is moving around 64-65. Proteins in general are high.
Winter wheat has also started in the country at moisture contents of 20%. KPH is good at 74-75, while a yield of 4.5t/ac was reported to AgriLand after a crop of beans.
Winter oats were doing well averaging around 3.5t/ac in the region.
Cork
Yields are on a different level the further south you go with spring barley crops achieving between 3t/ac and 4t/ac in many cases at moisture levels ranging from 16% to 20%.
Again quality is an issue to qualify for malting. Skinned grains are prevalent in samples, while some proteins are coming in extremely low in Co. Cork in comparison to other areas of the country.
Wheat crops are also doing well with crops in rotations hitting over the 4t/ac mark and reaching 5t/ac at moisture contents of 18-20%.
North-east
In the north-east, winter oilseed rape yields were ranging from 1.2t/ac to 2t/ac.
Winter barley straw was proving difficult to gather, further reducing straw yield. Reports on prices are of €15-20/bale (4X4).
Winter barley yields ranged from 1.5t/ac to 3.75t/ac. Spring barley crops are also suffering from secondary growth in the north-east and the drought has allowed for weeds to come through gaps in crops.