Irish Seed Trade Association (ISTA) president, Tim O’Donovan confirmed at this year’s Teagasc National Tillage Conference that the cereal seed shortage of 2024 is very real.
According to O’Donovan, Irish seed houses have managed to secure 23,000t of spring barley seed for the upcoming season.
This will be made up of home-grown supplies, plus a large proportion of seed imported from countries across Europe.
“The 23,000t figure equated to the quantities of spring barley seed used last year. We might be able to get that figure pushed up to 24,000t, but that will be it,” he said.
It has also been confirmed that seed will be coming into Ireland from countries including: France; Italy; Poland; Czech Republic and the UK.
“All imports will be certified to EU standards. The Irish seed trade would have wanted to carry out extra checks on these consignments, but this did not prove possible.
“It turned out to be a case of confirming the order or losing the opportunity to competitors in countries like Germany,” O’Donovan added.
“All of northern Europe had one of the worst harvests in living memory last year. As a result, there is tremendous competition at the present time to source whatever spring barley seed is available throughout all of Europe,” he said.
O’Donovan indicated that every attempt has been made to secure imported spring barley varieties that will perform well under Irish conditions.
“We have concentrated our efforts in securing seed from maritime regions of Europe, where weather conditions closely resemble those impacting here in Ireland,” he said.
The ISTA representative also hinted that many of the imported varieties might well have been previously trialled in Ireland, so they won’t be totally unknown quantities.
O’Donovan continued: “The reality remains that spring barley seed availability will be at a premium this year. As a consequence, tillage farmers should be very strategic in the way they use the stocks that become available to them.
“This means planting crops when both ground and weather conditions permit. Simply going out on a February day to plant spring barley may not be the most advisable action to be taking, given current circumstances.”
There is also evidence that the risk of bringing new weed populations into Ireland, courtesy of imported cereal seed, is an issue that has already resonated within Teagasc.
Crops specialist, Dermot Forristal, also addressed the tillage conference. He strongly urged farmers using imported seed to be on the lookout for ‘exotic’ weeds at all times.
“These should be hand-rogued immediately in order to prevent population build-up. The last thing we need is another weed-related challenge confronting the tillage sector,” he said.