Teagasc tillage specialist Ciarán Collins told attendees of Tillage Day that compiling the 2026 harvest report highlighted variable spring barley yields, with the drought playing a huge role this year.
“The yields in the south were definitely quite good, a lot of three tonnes,” he said. However, when it came to the midland counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois and south Kildare, Ciarán noted that there were “much poorer yields, certainly affected by the big soil moisture deficit".
He said: “In the northeast, yields were a little bit better again, maybe reflecting the soil type that suited the year."
Yield potential
Harvest reports spanning 22 years revealed to Ciarán that the target of 1% grain yield increase per year is not being reached. Winter barley yields have increased by an average of 0.4% per year, with winter wheat at 0.55% and spring barley at 0.76% over that time period.
“When we look at winter wheat, the 10-year and five-year averages are actually the same, they’re 10t/ha, but when you dig through the figures, there is actually a lot of good potential,” noted Ciarán.
Agronomist at Quinns of Baltinglass James O’Loughlin agreed that “the potential is definitely there” but factors such as weather are having a major impact on crop yields.
“It got to the middle of April [this year] and some people hadn’t got out with their first split of nitrogen,” he said. “You can have the best crop of winter barley but if it doesn’t get early nitrogen to push on the tiller numbers, you won’t get yield.”
