A number of tillage farmers in east Donegal have confirmed that many spring barley crops are starting to lie.
This is a direct consequence of the heavy rains and winds that have battered the region over the past three weeks.
Hugh Kelly is the Co. Donegal representative on the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Grain Committee.
He farms in Lifford, close to the Donegal shoreline of Lough Foyle.
“Approximately 25% of the spring barley fields have been affected by lodging,” he explained.
“And it’s the same story with other tillage farmers in this area. Just short of 20mm of rain fell in the Donegal area last weekend.
“The figure for the month of August so far is 149mm. This works out at around 6″ of rain.”
Kelly is growing 40ac of spring barley this year, all destined for feed.
“We had 100t of water per acre falling on crops last weekend alone. So it’s no surprise that many spring barley crops have gone down,” he continued.
“The fact that the ears of the plants were so heavy, with ripening grain also contributed to this process,” he continued.
Barley crops
Kelly’s barley crops will be ready for the combine next week.
“And they are looking very well. The crops were sown out during May, but have come through their growth stages in good order.
“I am not unduly worried about some of the crops lodging at this stage, provided we can get them harvested next week.
“We won’t get a real sense of the actual yields until the combines are actually in the fields,” Kelly outlined.
He also confirmed that the winter wheat harvest in east Donegal has yet to get underway in any meaningful manner.
“Winter barley crops yielded up to 3.5t/ac with malting varieties performing well. Winter oilseed rape crops were coming in at between 1.6t and 1.8t/ac,” he said.
“My own rape averaged 1.7t. The straw was chopped.”
Meanwhile, Met Éireann is forecasting a changeable week ahead, with the prospect of high pressure building for the weekend.
By next Monday (September 2) the dominant pressure pattern changes, with high pressure likely steering most of our weather for the beginning of the coming month.
Temperature values will likely trend around average for the time of year, with precipitation amounts also likely trending around normal.
Beyond that, however, it looks like low pressure will, once again, dominate Irish weather patterns.