Teagasc has published its fourth crop report of 2023. It provides updates on winter wheat, winter barley, winter oilseed rape and winter oats.
Spring barley crops are also referenced.
Where winter wheat is concerned, Teagasc is confirming that crops have grown well in the last week, despite the wet weather.
Many crops only received their first application of fertiliser last week. The impact of this delayed nitrogen (N) application is not clear yet. But it may well impact yield later in the season.
Crop report – disease
Teagasc monitor crops are reporting high levels of septoria, which will be the target at leaf-three fungicide application near the end of April.
There are a few reports of yellow rust in Graham in recent days and this will be targeted with a leaf-four fungicide timing.
For the most part, winter barley crops have responded well to the main split of N fertiliser. The resulting growth means that many crops now at the growth stage (GS) 31.
According to Teagasc, shoot counts are satisfactory in crops unaffected by water logging. But there are more poor patches in fields this year than is normal.
Overall disease levels are low but there have been some reports of brown rust from a few weeks ago.
There are also some reports of rhynchosporium, mainly in susceptible varieties like Cassia, Casting and to a lesser extent in Joyau.
First fungicide application has been delayed in most barley crops due to wet weather.
Fertiliser application
The last few weeks have proven to be very difficult for growers to get fertiliser spread on oilseed rape crops.
Many advanced crops are now flowering and will soon be too tall to spread fertiliser accurately unless the disks can be raised above the canopy.
Winter oat crops have started to grow quite rapidly in the last week or so, especially where compound fertilisers were applied.
Some crops only received fertiliser this week and are somewhat backward. Disease levels are generally low although mildew is evident in some forward crops, according to Teagasc.
Meanwhile, some farmers on dry land availed of good ground conditions in early March to plant spring barley. However, it is estimated that only about 15% of this year’s spring barley is planted at this stage.
Establishment in these earlier planted crops is variable. Dry, free-draining land – not subject to water logging – is fine.
But there are some instances of patchy establishment where water lodged after planting and on some ‘tight’ headlands.
Seed rates need to be increased to 325 seed/m² if planting is delayed into mid-April.
Incorporation of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K) into the seedbed is crucial from now on. There is also a strong case to increase the N rate in the seedbed.