Next Tuesday, September 3, will see a major event take place on catch crops in Co. Wexford. Cover crop plots which were planted in mid-August will be on display, as well as live sowing demonstrations.

Proceedings will kick off at 10:00am with an introduction to the benefits and different types of cover crops available to farmers from Eoin Lyons – Teagasc malting barley advisor.

James Doran – a drystock advisor in Teagasc Enniscorthy – will discuss potential markets for catch crops and the possible profit opportunities from catch crops when used as a feed source for livestock farmers.

Planting catch crops in preparation for the demo day in Ferns

Catch crop plots

A number of different establishment methods were used to plant the catch crops on the farm and, almost a month on from the sowing date, attendees should be able to look at some of the differences in the crops.

Establishment methods used:
  • Direct drill;
  • Disc harrow plus seeder;
  • Disc drill and seed broadcast onto uncultivated stubble;
  • Half of each plot has been rolled as a comparison.

Nitrogen trial

It should be noted that these plots will form part of a trial being carried out as part of the Teagasc/Boortmalt joint programme.

The trial will examine the amount of nitrogen (N) taken up by the cover crops and – in turn – try to quantify how much of this N is taken up by the following malting barley crop.

Machinery demonstration

A live machinery demonstration will be the last stop of the day. A range of discs, grubbers and drills will be demoed by a number of different machinery brands.

Ciarán Hickey – Teagasc tillage advisor in Enniscorthy – will interview each machinery operator and detail some of the important information.

This event will take place at 10:00am on September 3 on Crosswinds farm, Tinnashrule, Ferns, Co. Wexford; the Postcode is: Y21 TX82