Crops are up and away and got a good head start ahead of the rain, in most cases.
The weather over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday has made land extremely wet and it is not trafficable in many areas. Depending on where you are, there were two inches and more of rain over the weekend. Herbicides and aphicides will have to wait in these conditions.
Well-drained soils are now at field capacity across the country according to Met Éireann, while medium and poorly drained soils are now saturated in most tillage areas.
There is some high pressure in the forecast and this may allow some winter wheat or oats to continue to be planted on drier ground being ploughed and sowed, but see how conditions are. It’s important for crops to go into a good seedbed and get well established.
The majority of crops up so far look to have very good establishment.
Slugs
Watch out for slugs in crops and set traps if you are unsure what to do. A slate with some porridge under it should attract some slugs.
Crops with straw incorporated or after oilseed rape may be more at risk.
Apply pellets where required, but not ahead of heavy rain as this will make the pellet melt away and the slug needs to hit the pellet.
Aphids
Keep an eye on aphid numbers, but it won’t be easy to travel unless you are on very dry ground. If you have a tolerant variety then you have insurance so don’t worry about it too much.
It is a lottery to get the aphicide timing right.
Infection can occur at different times throughout the autumn and winter, as we have learned in recent years.
Oilseed rape
Keep an eye on all crops. Walk oilseed rape for disease and watch out for light leaf spot in the coming weeks by taking a sample, placing it in a plastic bag and leaving it in a warm space to see if light leaf spot forms on the leaves.
You won’t travel for a while on sown fields, but keep an eye out to apply if needed when you can.
A preventative spray should be applied come December anyway.
Tillage Day
Tillage Day takes place next week. All roads lead to the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge on Thursday, 5 November. To purchase tickets you can log onto www.ifj.ie/tillageday or phone 01-4199525 or you can scan this QR code with your smart phone.
Tickets include access to all the panel discussions, the exhibition area, refreshments and dinner. You can see more about Tillage Day on this week’s tillage pages.
There will be farmers, agronomists, researchers, policy makers and members of the industry talking on the day.
It’s a great chance to meet people and assess the year gone by and to think about making changes for the year ahead.
With the majority of planting done, it’s a day not to be missed. We hope to see you there.
