Tillage farmers in the west of Ireland may look at whole cropping spring cereals in bales as the lesser of two evils, if the weather does not improve over the coming days.
“Spring barley and oat crops are staring to lodge, following the recent heavy rains,” confirmed Fintan Murray, who farms close to Claremorris in Co. Mayo.
He is growing 80ac of spring barley and spring oats this year.
“I walked crops last Saturday evening and it was evident that some had started to go down. And I am hearing similar stories from other growers,” he told Agriland.
“It will take up to four days of good weather to allow a combine out on to ground in this part of the world.
“Growers will make a decision this week as to whether they wait for a harvest window or take spring barley and oats off as whole crop.
“Making round bale whole crop silage will always be a ‘Plan B’. But it may be the only option available to cereal growers in the west of Ireland, where some fields are concerned, if the weather does not improve.
“Cutting and baling cereal crops can lead to significant grain losses,” he added.
Growers in the west
Murray is the Co. Mayo representative on the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Grain Committee.
He also confirmed that spring crops are looking well at the present time. And this is despite the fact that they were not planted out until May.
“Both my barley and oat crops will be ready for the combine next week. There is the prospect of some dry weather coming in at the weekend. Let’s hope this is the case,” he continued.
The Claremorris farmer also runs a contracting business.
“All work of any kind has stopped at the present time,” he said.
“Ground conditions are very poor. It would be impossible to put any form of machinery on to land at the present time. We can’t even get on with building site work.
“I am aware of farmers wanting to get second-cut silage made. Spreading slurry is an even bigger issue of concern.”
He explained that many farmers in the west of Ireland did not get slurry out in the spring because of the poor weather and ground conditions back then.
“Now they are sitting with their tanks full and still unable to get slurry out. Meanwhile, the date of the slurry spreading ban creeps ever closer,” he added.
“Farmers are genuinely concerned about the impact of the weather right now.”