Tillage farmers are being urged to put a strategic plan in place, when it comes to tackling the 2024 spring planting season.
According to Michael Hennessy, head of Teagasc Crops Knowledge Transfer Department, step one in the process is ensuring that sufficient seed has been procured.
He told Agriland: “Irish seed houses have done a tremendous job in securing spring barley seed from countries around Europe over recent weeks, but, they are unsure if there is scope to secure additional stocks as the planting season progresses.
“The weather since the start of the year has not been conducive to planting at all, so, plans to get significant acreages of winter wheat into the ground up to the middle of February didn’t materialise.
“Yes, there is the potential for tillage farmers to look at the option of growing the likes of forage maize on some ground, but in reality, we are looking at spring barley being the key cereal option for growers over the coming weeks.”
Hennessy stressed that there is a strong possibility that growers will reach a point at some stage during the planting season there there “won’t be enough seed to meet demand”.
Spring planting
Putting together an accurate costings schedule for all crops grown in 2024 is another fundamental message that Teagasc is communicating to tillage farmers, and these figures should include the significant value of straw.
“Spring crops will be going into the ground against the backdrop of falling grain prices and fertiliser prices that remain at relatively high levels.
“All input costs must be fully assessed. For example, key inputs like fertilisers, herbicides and fungicides are necessary, but other inputs such as crop tonics and biostimulants should only be viewed through the lens of three-year independent trials from Ireland.
“It’s not enough for a farmer to cover the costs of an input, even if it’s just €5/ac, that’s just turning money. But, the investment should return multiples of spend,” Hennessy explained.
The Teagasc representative has acknowledged that Irish farmers will be growing spring barley varieties in 2024, for which little Irish trial-related information is available.
“The first and the most significant step to reducing the lodging pressure is reducing the nitrogen input. Serious consideration should be given to applying plant growth regulator to these unknown spring barley varieties to lessen the risk of lodging.”
Hennessy also emphasised the greater role that animal slurries can play as a fertiliser source on tillage farms during the period ahead.
“The scope for cereal growers to come to mutually beneficial arrangements with neighbouring intensive livestock farmers, where the storage and use of slurries are concerned, is immense.
“Tillage farmers will soon have the opportunity of accessing a 70% grant to build new slurry storage facilities on their land.
!It is a very attractive grant scheme, and with a bit of creative thinking, this will be very beneficial to tillage farms,” Hennessy concluded.