Drummonds is confirming that sales of winter cereal seed fell back for the 2022/2023 season, relative to the previous year.
“In the case of wheat, the reduction is in the region of 15%,” Drummonds cereal seeds manager, Brendan Reilly confirmed to Agriland.
“But where winter barley is concerned, the figure is around 20%.
“Growers were advised to hold back their planting of winter barley until October, as a means of limiting the threat of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus,” he said.
“However, by that time, the rain had started falling, ground conditions deteriorated and it wasn’t possible to get crops into the ground.”
Winter cereal seed
Sales of oilseed rape, on the other hand, increased significantly.
“We are looking at a national planting level of 20,000ha for 2022/2023,” confirmed Reilly. “That’s up 40% on the previous year. Our own seed sales mirror this trend.
“Rape crops also got off to a great start; most of these are looking well at the present time.
“Pigeon grazing has been an issue in some areas. And phoma has been identified in some crops. But for the most part, rape is looking well across north Leinster and into the midlands. These are the main catchment areas for Drummonds.”
Reilly confirmed that many winter cereal crops are looking very healthy at the present time.
“But a significant number of others have not established well,” he added.
“And this is particularly the case in more marginal locations. Flooding has been an issue in parts of the country.
“Slugs have created a lot of damage in some crops. In a number of instances, fields were rolled at the wrong time, and this led to subsequent capping.”
Brendan Reilly is strongly advising growers to walk all their winter crops as a matter of priority. And in some cases, it could be a case of starting afresh on land that was planted out last autumn.
“Where wheat is concerned, plant numbers was not the critical issue. Many crops that got a poor start will have the ability to recover,” he explained.
“But where winter barley is concerned, plant numbers are key when it comes to determining yield. And in cases where the body of the crop just isn’t there, it may be case of starting over again.”
Crop management
In terms of crop-management-related issues to be addressed over the coming days, Reilly stressed the need for growers to complete herbicide programmes without delay.
“In rape crops where phoma is an issue, a relevant fungicide should be applied as soon as possible,” Reilly stated.
“The seed sales figures confirm a fall-back in the levels of autumn planting undertaken last year. However, this should be more than made up for with the options for spring cropping in 2023.”