Planning for the tillage year ahead is an obvious priority at this time for those farmers committed to growing crops.
There are challenges abound for many sectors within Irish agriculture, but at the same time, there is a lot that tillage farmers can be positive about.
This is a core theme to the discussions that comprise the latest edition of the Tillage Edge podcast.
At the present time, farmers are playing catch-up across their planting areas. This may present some difficulties during the early part of the season.
But if the weather cooperates, then hopefully growers can establish their desired planting acreages.
Teagasc tillage specialist, Ciaran Collins, has confirmed that planting rates are well back on what would normally be achieved by this time of the year.
“Winter barley has probably taken the biggest hit this year. The planting opportunities just weren’t there for it,” he said.
Significant acreages of winter crops were sown-out at the back end of November and early December. But what proportion of these crops might need to be re-established over the coming weeks?
“This is a difficult issue to quantify. The reality is that all growers who committed to planting crops before Christmas will have an area to revisit, once ground conditions improve,” Collins said.
“But quantifying this issue is really difficult. Weather conditions just never came perfect at any stage last autumn. Every field probably has a bit missing.”
But crops can often surprise people, even in cases where initial plant number seem low.
When is re-planting an option?
The Teagasc specialist highlighted a number of factors that come into play as growers decide to re-plant a crop or to continue on with what is already in the ground.
“Re-planting should be regarded as the very last option. The reality is that it costs possibly €50/ac to purchase the initial seed, plus another €100/ac regarding the machinery costs involved in sowing the initial crop,” he said.
“These are costs that are already in the system. And they must be fully accounted for when it comes to harvesting the final crop.
“But in reality, putting €150/ac on to the cost of producing a crop of spring barley makes the finances of the enterprise very marginal indeed from the very outset.
“Initial priority should be given to getting all other spring crops well established. And only then should a decision be taken as to the merits of re-planting a previously sown winter crop,” he added.
“Fundamentally, the decision to re-sow comes down to the existing plant count. It is not unknown for crops with what seem to be low plant counts coming good in the wake of some decent spring weather.”
Collins emphasised that plant count is the key issue and it comes down to farmers actually counting the plant numbers throughout a crop.
“Low plant counts are not that crucial an issue within wheat crops. Under these circumstances, it is still possible for growers to end up with reasonable yields,” he continued.
Inputs
According to the Teagasc representative, farmers must also be very mindful of the input regimes that they follow with crops that have either been re-sown or have sub-optimal plant counts.
”In such instances, there is a temptation to apply additional nitrogen and other fertiliser. But the reality is that the crops in question should be managed relative to their yield potential,” he explained.
“Getting a second opinion as to whether an existing crop should be destroyed is also extremely important.
“Bare fields are easy to gauge. It gets more complicated when there has been a degree of crop establishment.
“No farmer likes to see patchy crops. But at the end of the day, it’s all about doing the maths and working out which option is going to deliver the best economic outcome.”
Spring seed availability in 2024
The potential to grow spring crops in 2024 is significant. But will there be enough seed in the country to met this need?
According to Teagasc tillage specialist, Shay Phelan, this is the key question.
“The indications before Christmas, certainly for spring barley seed, were that the quantities required would not be available in Ireland,” Phelan said.
“Spring barley is the default crop option in this country, in the wake of a challenging autumn/winter planting season. So, it looks like the seed houses will have no option but to source supplies from Europe.
“But many countries across northern Europe, including the UK, the Netherlands, Holland Denmark, endured similar weather patterns in 2023, as was the case here in Ireland.
“So trying to get seed over there is going to be a challenge.
“Nonetheless, they have managed to do this before. And I assume they will succeed again. But seed that does come into the country over the coming weeks will do so with an increased cost.”
Spring rotations 2024
According to Shay Phelan, growers will have to factor-in their commitment to the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) two- and three-crop rules as they sit down to decide on their spring planting rotations.
“There is no mention of a derogation being sought on this matter. Nor has there been any speculation that one will be applied for,” Phelan said.
“In cases of farmers looking to swap out of spring barley and then opting to run with other options, such as forage maize or fodder beet, the question then arises – has a market outlet been found for these alternative crops?
“Disease and weed control are other issues that must be factored in as well,” he added.
Managing winter crops
According to Ciaran Collins, nitrogen (N) fertiliser application rates will be a fundamental issue to be decided upon by growers as they assess how to best manage the winter crops they have available to them over the coming weeks.
“A lot of crops are in a pretty backward state at present time. We have had a huge amount of rain since last July. As a consequence, soil residual nitrogen levels will be quite low,” Collins said.
“So, going that little bit earlier with nitrogen will be useful. But going earlier with nitrogen doesn’t mean that additional amounts of the crop nutrient are used overall.
“It’s a case of moving application dates forward that little bit. But going that little bit earlier with nitrogen doesn’t mean that large amounts of the product must be used at the outset.
“Crop demand is very low in the early part of the spring. All it takes is 20 to 30kg/ac to get a crop going,” he explained.
He also added that overall nitrogen application rate must match the crop’s overall yield potential. Thinner crops provide more spaces for weeds to get established.
Furthermore, a lot of autumn herbicide spraying windows were missed, because of the poor weather and equally challenging ground conditions.
“Getting weeds under control at the first opportunity is critically important,” Collins stressed.
“The plan is to have crops tillering out and growing-on. This won’t happen if weeds fill out the space that should be available for the growing crop.”
One agreed upside to the early weeks of 2024 is the fact that fertiliser prices have come back significantly, year-on-year.
It is envisaged that current circumstances may allow tillage farmers to re-establish optimal potash and phosphorous indices across their holdings.