The first of this year’s winter wheat crops have been harvested in the Mallow area, according to member of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Grain Committee, Paul O’Brien.
“Yields to date have been nothing to write home about. So, we will wait and see how the wheat harvest progresses over the coming days,” he said.
Cork has seen very little rain over recent days. Thundery showers, which affected most of the country on Sunday evening, have moved on.
So, there is an expectation that the combines will be operating again in pretty short order.
Winter wheat
“I am not growing wheat this year. Up to this point, my harvest focus has been on winter oats and winter barley,” he added.
O’Brien was very happy with the outcome of the oats harvest.
“Crops averaged 3.9t/ac with bushel weights up to 57kg. The oats were delivered direct to my local merchant and then on to Flahavan’s milling operation. I grew the variety Husky this year.
“In contrast, the winter barley yields were quite poor, with yields in the range: 3.0t to 3.5t/ac. There were no 4t crops grown on the farm this year at all,” O’Brien said.
He attributes Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) attack as being a contributing factor to the poor winter barley yields recorded this year.
“Next up for me, will be spring barley. Here, crops are still two weeks plus from harvest,” he commented.
The IFA member has confirmed that he will bale all the straw produced on the farm this year: “I keep cattle of my own – straw has always been used as a fodder and bedding source on the farm.”
The Cork farmer is happy enough with the introduction of the new Baling Assisted Payment (BAP) scheme.
“The original decision on the part of the minister to suspend the straw incorporation measure without warning came as a tremendous shock to tillage farmers.
“What we have ended up with is a suitable compromise,” he outlined.
Meanwhile, Met Éireann is forecasting a mix of sunny intervals and showers over the coming days. However, there will be some decent spells of dry weather throughout the week.
Ground conditions in tillage areas are set to remain good.
Current indications suggest some showers over the weekend, but overall a good amount of dry weather can be expected with daytime temperatures reaching the mid to high teens generally.