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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
PAGE
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03 Soil nutrition
PAGE
A view from the field
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07
PAGE Malting Barley
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19 Competition 2020
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021 www.dairygoldagri.ie
d i t i o n
er E
Bump
WELCOME TO
Trust in
Dear Grower,
Spring is on its way, days noticeably getting longer by the minute,
Tillage
birds can be seen and heard from early morning; it’s a lovely time
of the year and gives us all a little lift. The autumn was a bit of a
DAIRYGOLD’S
drag for many but now behind us as we look forward to resuming AGRONOMY BULLETIN
field work, nurturing our autumn crops back to life and planting
our spring seeds into ground that will give way to the wet and
soggy soils over time. While reviewing recent weather data
TABLE OF
you can see in the included summary that this winter was quiet
cold versus more recent years and December was rather wet
when compared to 2019 but hopefully we can look forward to a
brighter and warm spring now, it’s generally a game of averages.
In this issue of Trust in Tillage we are going to take a brief look
at our soils and just touch on how they function and support
CONTENTS
growth and crop production. While some of the articles make
heavy reading, don’t get too caught up in that, just get the flow
of the commentary as soil biology is complicated even in its 03 Soil Nutrition
simplest form. Its important to remember that we produce crops
from what’s beneath the ground and only helped by the chemical
compounds that later protect what we have grown. We will 07 A View from the Field
also take a brief look at spring herbicide options that we might
consider to cleaning up our autumn crops, the DAFM Spring Crop
Recommended List will be reviewed as will our present turbulent
11 Paul Farmer Writes
markets as feed and fertilisers make significant shifts. The all-
important task of Farm Safety will be mentioned as we head 15 Met Éireann - Weather Data
into a very busy time on the farm. We will also get our second
report from our 2021 Farmer Writes which will make interesting
reading. In this issue we are introducing a new feature, a photo 16 Gateway Grain
competition, and hopefully we’ll get a positive response to it
where can share some scenes in future publications. Finally, we
are going to do an extended feature on our four-malting finalists
20 Malting Barley Competition
for 2020 which was one of our main events in our annual spring
conference which unfortunately had to be cancelled this year
due to the current pandemic. However, we’ll be back in 2022 and
26 Grain Markets
are already working on it to make it a special event for everyone.
I hope that you will get some little nugget from the publication
27 A View to Spread
and find it interesting and in some small way an asset to your
business. We are ready to listen to any criticism or suggestions
that may warrant consideration which will always be held in
29 A Feed Traders View
confidence.
Wish you all good health and a successful season ahead. 30 Ecology Within Our Soil
32 Healthy Soils
Liam Leahy I.A.S.I.S.
DAIRYGOLD TILLAGE & BEEF AREA MANAGER
34 Spring Herbicide Program
CONTACT
38 DAFM List 2021
Trust in Tillage
086 2441370
44 Photo Competition
lleahy@dairygold.ie
www.dairygoldagri.ie
2 www.dairygoldagri.ie
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Soil Nutrition
NO 2: ALL ABOUT PHOSPHOROUS
| By Liam Leahy I.A.S.I.S. Dairygold Tillage & Beef Business Manager
Phosphorus (P) is the most limiting this release of P from the closets
element in plant nutrition in soils you need Ground Temp of > 6
and without an adequate supply C, a supply of water to create
of it, all other growth activities a soluble solution and a host,
are heavily compromised. The the primary SORBED P that is
phosphate ion (PO4-) carries gone in a defficate situation and
a negative charge and is not plant that will utilize the element
easily lost from the soil. It a very when made available . Hence,
immobile nutrient in the ground you shouldn’t apply P to any
especially if the soil has a low PH. Index 4 soils but instead allow
It is a very complex element as it the background store become
tends to be very interactive with available as it will over time,
some other soil micro elements. once given a chance. In the
case of acidic soils, low in Lime
Atomic Number 15 3 - Ion Ca, there are abundant amounts
- Symbol - P Charge water sources if not taken up of Al and Fe available for the P
Name - Phosphorus or neutralized by positive ions to attach to and reduces the
in the soil which can take time availablity of P significantly.
Atomic Mass - 31.0
to complete; but if not lost, they When you apply Lime Ca you
become stored away in a more subsutite the P attraction to the
It’s a critical element in plant complexed closet SECONDARY Al and Fe as Ca is a favoured
biology especially at the early and AND PRIMARY P BANKS that Positive Ion to the Al and Fe and
late stage of development, as in will return them when asked for by default it releases more P in
the case of seed germination and by the SORBID P but then only in the soil for plants to utalize once
root establishment, then again at a slow and measured way. For the conditions allows.
flowering and seed development
in the maturing plant as cell both
form and divide.
The vast majority of P in the soil
is unavailable and only releases
when there is a shortage of
soluble P in the actual soil
SORBED P, which is where
the plant is sourcing its P from.
Plants can only feed from soluble
concentrations of phosphorous
which are often drawn from
either applied P or levels that are
available due to high applications
of organic manures or fertilisers
in the past. These excessive P Figure 1. Soil phosphorus cycle. This figure illustrates the sources of
banks can also be trouble in so phosphorous inputs in the soil, pathways through which phosphorus
becomes available/ unavailable for plant uptake, and phosphorus
far as they leech and pollute
outputs/ loss pathways.
3
Apply P where required and in
advised amounts.
................................................................
The Index 3 is advised as “P input
= crop off-take”
• Index 1 and 2 the advice
includes an extra allowance to
start building back- ground P
with view to achieving Index 3
Closet 1 Closet 2 Sorbed P (ideal) over time.
................................................................
Secondry P Soil P
Part available In the case of cereals grown
in Index 1 and 2 soils, apply a
portion at planting, combined drill
In summary there is a significant takes significant time to correct if possible, in the case of Index 1
amount of background P in a lot from low levels. apply all pre planting.
of soils and can become available ................................................................ ................................................................
over time once managed properly. Crops that are suffering from P In root and some other crops like
If you continue to apply P to soils in deficiency don’t recover quickly Maize apply at planting into the
Index 4 you are only encouraging unless ideal conditions allow for P seedbed. It is best to apply P close
losses to the environment as the uptake but generally, they will be to the period of rapid crop uptake
soil may not be able to use or compromised. and at rates that match crop
attract and store them as the later ............................................................... uptake capacity at that time or to
is a slow process and there is a Cold weather in the case of meet soil build-up requirements.
all indexes reduces P activity ................................................................
saturation point in closet 1 and 2.
especially where soil is drawing
In the standard P soil test, from closet 1 or 2.
“Morgan’s P” it measures the
soluble P and also that in SORBED
P as this is looked upon as a
readily available source to the
plant.
P Mg /LColour
Index
Index “Morgan’s P”
Mg / I
1 0-3 V Low
2 3-6 Low
3 6-10 Med
4 10+ High
Therefore, in summary:
Measure / Test your soil.
................................................................
Keep your Soil PH correct. P Figure 3. Typical strength and P bond types found in soils across the
levels in the soil fall slowly but soil pH range
4 www.dairygoldagri.ie
Peas 14 May 2020 10 June 2020
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Slurry is a good source of P and readily available Triple E Super Phosphate
to the plant where the conditions and application This is the typical 16% Super P that is commonly used
methods allow. on many farms in Ireland. It is Rock Phosphate treated
................................................................ with Phosphoric Acid which renders it 90% water
Avoid applying in times of saturated soils or heavy soluble and available to the plant once conditions
pending downpours as a portion recently applied P allow. The finished product has an analysis of 16% P
will inevitable be lost to run-off. and15% Ca after process.
................................................................
In the case of PH > 7, P applications are allowed in
most cases as excessive Ca can interfere with P
Diammonium Phosphate
This is the most commonly used source of P in the
availability. See chart.
................................................................ world. It is manufactured after a complex process
There are extra allowances allowed for high yielding involving Rock Phosphate, Ammonia and both
cereal crops 1 ton extra above Base yield plus 3.8 Phosphorus and Sulphuric Acid. The end complex
Kg p per Ha. (3 units / extra ton / acre) compound consists of 18% N and 20% P which is
highly soluble. This product is the foundation of such
products as 10.10.20 and 18.6.12
There are 3 commonly used Phosphorus fertilisers
used in the Irish Market. Tillage crops will remove:
Rock Phosphorus P off-take per ton
This is basically unprocessed raw phosphate and
Cereals 3.8 Kg ~8 unit (including straw)
largely unavailable to the plant. It has been commonly
used in the past in the forestry industry. It is coming Oilseed Rape 6.9 kg ~15 unit
under increasing pressure for environmental reasons Beans 5 Kg ~11 unit (Straw excluded)
as it can find its way into watercourses ending up as
a pollutant in many cases. Beet 1 Kg ~2.2 unit
UNITS / ACRE
PH range Straw 1 1 2 3 4
Removed N P K P K P K P K
6.3 - 6.6 WW 4.5 t ac 200 49 43 100 34 88 0 0
6.3 - 6.6 WB 4 t / ac 170 46 40 91 32 80 0 0
7 WOSR 1.75 t /ac 180 44 36 72 28 60 0 0
6 - 6.5 WO 3.65t / ac 140 42 36 118 28 104 0 0
6.3 - 6.6 SW 3.45t / ac 152 40 32 91 25 80 0 0
7 Beans 2.5 t / ac 0 40 32 48 16 32 0 0
6.3 - 6.6 SB 3 t / ac 124 39 31 80 23 68 0 0
7 Beet ~30 t / ac 150 56 44 192 32 128 16 64
6.2 -6.6 Maize ~20 t /ac 145 56 40 180 32 150 96
5
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6 www.dairygoldagri.ie
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
03/2/21
A View
from the Field
| By Ger Hanley I.A.S.I.S. Dairygold Tillage & Beef Area Manager
It has been a difficult Autumn, particularly December cases; this is despite good planting rates. It’s fair
which was both cold and wet and it certainly affected to assume that there were excessive seed losses
some of the later planted crops especially in heavy in these difficult seed beds, but I also think that
land. This is not new as similar often happens but slugs caused a lot more damage than we realized
with some tender loving care they will make a by hollowing germinating seed. The early crops that
strong recovery once the plant is healthy. Last year got a herbicide, may well need a spring clean-up
we carried some poor crops across the winter also, later, while most of the later plantings are unsprayed.
again late planted crop, yet they went on to produce Annual Meadow Grass (AMG) is obvious in later
good rewarding crops at harvest; so, all is to play for unsprayed crops and gone beyond any reasonable
yet. control at this stage. However, a good competitive
crop is usually enough to suppress them until harvest
Winter Barley saw an increase in area planted time in most cases.
this past Autumn as growers worked on spreading
their workload and risk while taking advantage Winter Wheat is surprisingly slightly back in
of the good weather in late September and early area this year in Cork and Tipp. This is largely due
October. These crops are nice to the eye, well to the broken weather from Mid October on which
established at GS 23-25 in places and will move offered little chance of getting back into the fields.
forward readily once temperatures start to rise. The Those crops that were planted are very nice, well
later planting that went in from Mid-October on, established, with good plant counts. Wheat is
haven’t been as fortunate as they got wet, broken definitely a crop of choice for later planting as it can
weather shortly after planting and while they largely handle these difficult soils , will compensate in the
have established, they are backward with noticeably spring and drive on to be good rewarding crops.
lower plant numbers and not uncommon to find Good crop rotation that contain proper break crops
missing patches in fields that were saturated or are key to successful wheat production. Most crops
water logged. are in the 275 P/m2 range and at GS 22-23. Very
few have got any herbicide but that’s not an issue as
It is common to find conventional varieties at ~220 there are plenty options available for winter wheat
p/m2 while Hybrids are in place ~150p/m2 in such in the spring.
7
weeds and now just ticking over waiting for kinder
Winter Oats is a very small crop again this year spring weather. The remainder will be sprayed once
but what was planted is fine. Not sprayed for weeds, the weather and ground obliges after selecting
established well and should move on nicely once the required herbicide program as not all active
the spring start to arrive. ingredients are cleared on this crop. An interesting
crop that Dairygold is supporting for the last two
Winter Beans saw a significant increase this years and we see a significant place for it on farms
year. They have been established by three different that want to lengthen rotations with winter crops. Its
methods this Autumn which will give all a great unique in its near resistant to “take-all” and offers
opportunity to evaluate each system. Some were a real alternative to second wheats. It has yielding
ploughed, tilled and one-pass, others were ploughed capacity like wheat with a much bigger straw yield.
in and a high percentage were established by the Proactive management is key to a successful crop;
“strip till” system. The later system is very nice to it grows very tall, so it needs PGR two or three times
look at it now, probably the most impressive, while during the year while keeping your nitrogen levels
the other two plough systems are fine also but not lower compared to winter wheat. Also, it can sprout
nearly as even to look at. Some have been sprayed easily once ripe; again, given any fair weather that
for weeds, but the ploughed based systems mostly can be managed also.
remain unsprayed as ground conditions were simply
un-passable. Crows have continued to pick at some Fodder Beet is a crop that’s reducing in area
crops but hopefully they’ll back off from now on as year by year as feeders move to other feeds to carry
crops root out and get stronger. winter stock. With the increasing price of cereals on
the world market it may tempt some cattle finishers
We have an area of Winter Oilseed Rape back as it’s an excellent beef finisher feed with very
grown by a very committed band of growers who high energy and intake factors. Yields are satisfactory
value the crop as a break crop along with its own in most cases, still back maybe 10-12% from last
contribution to the business profitability. These season’s high. There was an area of high DM sugar
are growers who are committed to growing Winter beet planted also which yielded fine but not to the
Wheat each year or Seed Crops in some cases that fodder beet level which is a serious factor if you are
need virgin ground to work with. The crops were trading your crop. Also, the “Conviso Smart Beet” is
mostly planted in early September into excellent being harvested at present, again yielding like the
ground and established very well. Slug pellets high DM beets as it is a sugar beet itself. The crop
were applied in most places as you generally need was a pleasure to work with, excellent plant stands,
to in any case and at this stage all have received absolutely no dreaded wild beet came through and
an herbicide of some sort. Some crops are taking the weed control was generally excellent. The roots
a heavy hammering from pigeons since early themselves look very small when you view your
January. While its looks awful to see this happening, clamp but there’s an awful lot of them per chain which
I wouldn’t be overly concerned as they generally largely compensates, and you have a much cleaner
won’t graze the growing point of well-established lift of the crop. The one rule that all growers must be
crops. These crops will recover quickly once you aware of when growing a crop in this ground after is;
apply a good strong level of early nitrogen to the you have “ZERO TOLERANCE TO ANY VOLUNTEER
crop as temperatures start to rise. This may well be BEET AND PLAN YOUR HERBICIDE PROGRAM
early to mid-February depending on the weather, AFTER GETTING PROFESSIONAL ADVICE”.
but once the opportunity arises and the forecast is
suitable go for it. Potatoes are cleared from the field in most cases
at this stage except for some hilly ground which the
Rye We again have a small area of Rye planted heavy machinery find hard to work in; they will be
in the area this season, hybrid varieties, planted in harvested in due course after a few dry days. Crops in
September and are a picture to look at. They have general were reasonable without any record yields,
tillered very well despite their low sowing rate and but good quality in most cases. Demand is good with
not uncommon to find individual plants with 8 to strong sales of bagged potatoes for home cooking.
10 healthy tillers. Some have been sprayed for This is driven mainly by the pandemic as people
8 www.dairygoldagri.ie
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
return making family dinners with few opportunities another crop that has seen a growing demand for
to eat out. This however has other consequences as but a more difficult crop to manage at farm level. It is
the manufacturing trade has near completely dried a more seasonal crop, dictated by weather in a big
up as this business was mainly driven by the catering way and supermarkets usually have a supply source
trade. This section is a very important part of the in mainland Europe to guarantee them year long
bigger growers cropping as they grow on contract shop supply. Cauliflowers tend to ripen together and
in a pre-planned way to meet these processors don’t last long once mature and that’s the real issue.
demand. All knock-on effects that the general public The Supermarkets tend to support their Spanish or
don’t know about but hurts the primary producer Dutch supplier before the Irish in many cases due
deeply as potatoes are a very expensive crop to to contractual obligations. At present there is strong
produce. On the positive side prices have held up demand for the Irish caulis as it seems transport
reasonably well which is some compensation. issues has caused disruption to the import supply.
The other big concern when deal with these field
Cabbages and Cauliflower Again, they vegetables is a good supply of manual labour.
have seen a revival on many family dinners tables
which is great as another healthy Irish food been Table Turnips are cropping well with plenty of
recognized. Cabbage which is a near all-year round demand from the home trade. Again, labour intensive
crop with modern varieties is yielding well. There with low value but rewarding. The export market is
are some disease issues that are proving somewhat proving questionable at this stage as transport cost
difficult to control, such as Alternaria, as the wet increases due to Brexit and the load value is finding
weather keeps it ticking over despite the good work it increasingly difficult to support the extra costs. This
of the fungicide programs. This crop is leaving a market will need to rebalance, or this export market
respectable margin this year once you have a well- may well dry up.
e organized supply chain to work with. Cauliflower is
-
. Pacifica Plus is a post-emergence
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label and product information before use. Pay attention to the risk indications and follow
the safety precautions on the label. For further information visit www.bayercropscience.ie
or call Bayer Freephone 1800 818 534. © Bayer CropScience Limited 2020. Triple rinse
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9
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10 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Paul Farmer Writes
25th January 2021
| By Paul Farmer North Cork Tillage Farmer
It has been a difficult few months on our farm in program later. The plans for this crop as of now is
North Cork, probably not a lot more different than to get some early fertiliser on it and coax it along,
other years, but the winter crops have just sat there probably 2 x 50 Kg 12/7/23 S Mn by mid-February
and struggled to establish in some cases; yes, they’re with the remainder 10-12 days later. I will give an
there but thin and a little weak. December was a very overview of the fertiliser program later as we got
wet month on our land as it was constantly wet and back our soil results and they are a lot lower than
cold. All said, we got a lot of Autumn work completed I anticipated; that’s the price you pay for skimping
as we planned and even changed a few cropping
plans as we went on to take advantage of situations
as they presented themselves. We completed our
harvest on September 20th when we cut the last
crop, Protein Beans, that yielded 1.9 Tons / ac at
19% Moisture; disappointed truthfully as they looked
really promising all year, lots of small beans but not
enough of them. We planted Graham Winter Wheat
on October 10th at 160 Kg / ha, 10.5 st/ac and while
it established quickly, the plant count is only average
at 200-220 p/sm.
The crop is tillering now,
Winter Wheat 25 Jan 2021
GS23, but not making
much headway even over recent years. We’re aiming to get a herbicide
though it’s after beans. The applied in mid- February, probably Pacifica Plus +
ground is wet, perished Zypar and Delfan; products depending when it will
and now getting grazed be completed. This should take care of all weeds
seriously by rabbits in including wild oats which is now everywhere on this
places. We ploughed and farm.
planted it conventionally
and got it rolled, all in Our WOSR established ok in probably the most
ideal conditions. There’s difficult field on the farm. Its very heavy even to
a significant amount of the point of surface water appearing regularly after
Volunteer Beans after any level of rain. There are a multitude of soils
coming through also types through the block as was once comprised
but we will take them of 8 different fields, each with unique soil profiles.
easily with the herbicide Where it’s good it’s fine and where soil type is poor
11the crop will show you quickly; this is land that you and have given it a good grazing, but the plants have
will regularly meet subsoil when ploughing. It was nice strong growing points and they should be fine.
ploughed and planted conventional and rolled, all in The one mistake I made is I probably should have
good conditions. The seeding rate was kept high as applied fertilisers pre planting, but I didn’t as it was
the expectancy is for lower establishment in these previously index 3 and land that would be subject to
soil types. leeching a lot during the winter. The samples came
back at index 2 ranging from 4 to 6 in P and 80 to
The Ambassador and Aurelia varieties have a plant 120 in K. As soon as the weather allows, I plan to
count now ranging from 20 to 50 pl/sm always give this crop some of its base dressing and get
mirroring the soil structure. As I said in my first article, back into it again quickly as the forecast and growth
OSR is new to us as we never had much luck with it allows with view to having 80 units on nitrogen on it
in the past between birds and other issues, but we by early March. Fungicide application is planned for
returned to it this year for 2 reasons. One was to start of stem extension, probably early March also.
address a Blackgrass issue that propped its head up
last year and two, to grow a crop that might open and
improve the structure of this land. We applied Slug
pellets on September 14th to protect the seedlings
as they emerged, and we had little losses in this
case. As the crop developed it became clear that we
now had another issue to deal with, that of a range
of brassica weeds.
I hadn’t realised how bad that they were but
thankfully its more in patches than all over. On
October 10th, we applied a cocktail of Salsa for the
brassica weeds, Stratus Ultra for Volunteer Cereals,
wild oats and Blackgrass, .2 lt Proline and a wetter.
Initially I thought that the Salsa didn’t do a lot, as A miss with the Salsa Chickweed melting
after Astrokerb
some species of brassica weeds are resistant to
it, I now realise that it has done a reasonable job The big change of plans we had this Autumn was that
as I noticed where a skip was. Some may be only we planted Winter Beans replacing the Spring crop.
stunted badly but it allows the crop to compete with As I said we were disappointed with last year’s crop
them later, others have melted away over time. What after promising so much and when an opportunity
I’m delighted with is the clean-up of the Volunteer presented itself on November 3rd, we took it. Again,
Cereals with the Stratus Ultra and at this stage it in difficult heavy ground we broadcast the beans on
looks like it has taken the Blackgrass also. Were still to stubbles that had got a light disking and simply
awaiting the finding on the samples that I sent to ploughed in. We haven’t been inside the gate since
Teagasc for a profile summary, its well due at this as you’d leave your wellies after 2 steps. The land is
stage, I think. like that where the OSR is planted; heavy, compact
and just hard to work and we are hopeful that it will
On November 28th, we applied Astrokerb as the improve the soil structure here also. Along with that
main herbicide, principally as it has a strong rating there is a protein support payment which takes the
on Blackgrass among other weeds. It’s now today, pressure off the performance, just a little. There is
February 5th that you can see it really working, an issue however; where the soils are heaviest or
particularly on chickweed which was quite strong. It’s saturated, they haven’t come through yet and while
very slow to work. The pigeons arrived on January 1st I know beans are big and tuff, I fear that we might
12 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
have bare patches in the field, and they could be
significant. The one lesson I have learned is that
despite what I thought, beans have a tolerance level
to adverse surroundings also and it’s not a good as
you might think. There is no herbicide, or any input
of any kind applied to this crop at this stage. Also,
the soil samples suggested index 2 here and with
Winter barley, note the heavy patches
We are planning to burn off our stubbles and green
cover in the coming days and get ready to plough
for the spring crops which will now just be malting
barley. We won’t be in any rush planting for the time-
being as the ground won’t lend itself to that type of
work here.
Beans coming through Bear heavy patches with I hope you might have got something or at least
the dry ground no beans Our winter
relate to what I have written here. It is as it was, warts
and all. We are not complaining about our crops but
these readings I could legally have applied fertilisers
just trying to relate the issues that we encounter on
pre-planting. It’s a question of waiting and see now
these lands. We are used to this as that’s our farm
and review when ground conditions allow.
and we simply try and work around them as they
arise. Probably not vintage tillage ground by any
Winter Barley was planted after Spring Barley on
means but that’s what we do and like, and once we
October 10th ; ideal timing at about 7 st / ac of
can make a decent living, we are content with that.
Belfry. The ground ploughed and tilled well but our
established plant count is disappointing at ~140-
150 p/sm. There very evenly distributed and have
stood up well to heavy underfoot conditions which is
great. Nothing has been done to this crop either and
has a fine population of groundsel and chickweed
now. We plant to take the same approach as with the
OSR and Winter Wheat here with fertilisers; starting
once the ground and forecast allows and rising to a
high level, 80 units, of Nitrogen by early March. Also,
a herbicide will be applied as the occasion presents
itself and temperatures are right as it will be based
on a Sulfonylurea type product plus partner; the plan
is “Presite Max plus Pixxaor” and a broad-spectrum
trace element compound also. Belfry starting to tiller
1314 www.dairygoldagri.ie
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Weather Data
Below is a detailed summary of the weather both in recent months
and years. Always a good read and an intresting study. We will
include this information occasionaly as it can be an important part
of many decisions.
MONTHLY VALUES FOR CORK AIRPORT UP TO 07 FEB 2021
Total rainfall in millimetres for CORK AIRPORT
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2021 121.8 28.8 150.6
2020 112.2 199.3 64.7 72.3 68.8 94.1 97.6 175.0 58.2 118.6 160.8 185.4 1407.0
2019 74.3 81.5 128.6 135.8 41.0 110.5 43.9 107.6 91.1 179.2 145.0 125.6 1264.1
2018 156.6 48.7 164.9 180.7 82.8 10.4 40.1 59.0 77.4 62.0 201.5 193.2 1277.3
mean 131.4 97.8 97.6 76.5 82.3 80.9 78.8 96.8 94.6 138.2 120.0 133.1 1228.0
Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for CORK AIRPORT
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2021 4.7 6.0 4.9
2020 6.2 6.0 6.1 9.6 11.4 13.6 14.8 15.5 13.5 9.7 8.3 5.5 10.0
2019 6.4 7.3 7.2 8.9 11.1 12.5 16.0 15.2 13.6 9.8 6.6 6.2 10.1
2018 6.2 4.1 4.4 8.4 11.8 15.8 17.4 15.1 12.3 9.9 8.0 8.3 10.2
mean 5.6 5.7 6.8 8.2 10.7 13.3 15.1 15.0 13.2 10.3 7.7 6.1 9.8
Mean 10cm soil temperature for CORK AIRPORT at 0900 UTC
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2021 3.4 n/a 3.4
2020 5.1 5.0 4.9 9.1 11.9 14.1 14.9 15.3 13.2 9.2 7.7 4.7 9.6
2019 6.0 6.3 6.4 8.7 11.8 13.3 16.6 15.0 13.5 9.1 6.2 5.2 9.9
2018 5.0 3.1 3.7 8.0 12.0 16.9 18.2 15.5 12.4 9.2 7.1 7.5 9.9
mean 4.8 4.8 5.9 7.9 11.3 14.1 15.7 15.2 13.0 10.0 7.2 5.6 9.6
Note: The wet December verses the average.
Note: The lower air and soil temperatures and Janruary which didn’t help the later planted crops.
IMPORTANT CAP DATES (MOST LIKE DATES)
DEC 20 The commission published country specific CAP recommendations
SPRING 21 The final EU level negotiations to conclude which will then be the shape of the next CAP
Jan 2022 Ireland to submit is national strategic plan after reviewing the EU final guidelines. This may include the payment structures
in Pillar 2 and or other supports from the national exchequer to promote certain aspects of the national plan. These are highly likely
to be weighted heavily in the envoirment field.
DEC 22 After review of all 27 submissions the EU will sign off on all national plans once seen to be fair and balanced to all in
structured in a way that support the EU to achieve its overall targets
and reforms.
EUROPE &
JAN 23 Starting date for new CAP. DAFM UPDATES
15Gateway Grain
| By Frances Nash BA (Hons) U.C..C Grain Operations Agri Business
Dairygold launces new Gateway Other functions on Gateway grain include details
Grain Section of your payments and account reconciliations, your
Contact Details, your Grain Bonus and Laboratory
We are delighted to announce that Dairygold have Results & Reports, print useful documents, the list
launched a new Grain section to its Member & goes on…
Customer Portal, Gateway.
Another exciting new addition is Future Market
This will no doubt be a very useful tool to all of our Prices;
growers and will allow you access you all of your
grain information at the click of a button. This function provides you with an interactive graph
of November Market Prices as well as Historical
You can now view your prices. We hope this will be a useful tool to help our
Statements online; growers get to know where their grain stands in the
print them yourself, marketplace and allows them to monitor the trends
email them to your of the futures market in Ireland.
Accountant, download
on to your computer, the *All prices are uploaded on a weekly basis and will
list is endless. Gateway reflect all November prices up to the prior week.
Grain will allow you to Current/Live prices will still have to be obtained from
manage your business your ASM.
better, showing you
a detailed account of This is an exciting new addition to the Gateway
your tonnes supplied project, and we are very excited about the
and interactive graphs, giving you a more visual development and future of Gateway grain.
experience. All load details can be downloaded as
a PDF for your reference and into MS Excel, if you
wish to build the data in to your own files.
SAMPLE SCREEN FOR GROWER
16 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Analytical How do I see my New Gateway Grain?
Services If you are already using Gateway, you don’t have
In addition to Gateway to do anything, all of your login details remain the
Grain, Gateway now same and a NEW grain icon will be available on your
has the facility for users dashboard.
to view, download and
print their Laboratory
Reports. To view
your report, login to
your gateway, select
Analytical Services
and enter your desired
date range. To download any report or script, select
the download icon and save to your PC. This facility
actually went live in recent days and there for all to
use from now on.
The future of Gateway
The Gateway project was established to help
Dairygold get ever closer to being a paperless
workplace. The roll out of Gateway Grain at the
If you are NEW to Gateway, you will need to request
end of 2020 was a welcome step forward in this
a login.
regard and also allows us the opportunity to help
our growers maximise the use of their data to know
To request a new Dairygold Gateway account please
and grow their business. This is the first stage in
contact your Milk Advisor or Area Sales Manager
what will be an increasing expedition in growing
or email your Trading Account Number (7 digits)
our accessibility for our grain suppliers. All of this
along with the name on your account to
information will be stored safely for the grower on
gateway@dairygold.ie
the Gateway Portal and can be accessed wherever,
whenever you like.
1718 www.dairygoldagri.ie
ISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
2020 DAIRYGOLD
Malting Barley
Competition
192020 Dairygold
Malting Barley Competition
In recent years we have run a malting barley industry also as that’s the ultimate goal ; to
competition for all our growers who get the produce a quality home grown product that
opportunity to show-case their business and Ireland can be proud of all over the world.
how they include the crop in their rotation
while at the same time producing a product to Different to previous years, where we appointed
excellent standards. This has been the highlight an outside independent body to educate on
of our annual January Spring Tillage conference the result which included a farm visit and chat
each year but like a lot of other events it too with each grower where they gauged each
must bow to more serious health matters that participant farm practices and decision-making
exist at present and take backstage. techniques; this year will take a slightly different
approach. We wont be making any farm
While it is not alone a wonderful educational visits, we can’t , but we will be deciding on a
event it has proven to be a great social outing winner on a pre-selected criteria that is heavily
where a lot of growers meet up and get the weighed on the quality of his delivered product
opportunity to meet industry representatives along with marks given for some common work
along with Dairygold senior management and practices that would be practiced by all. There
board members. However, as difficult as it are no winners and losers in this competition as
may be, we are committed to continuing the each area brought a different set of challenges
malting competition for 2020 as we see it as a ranging from drought conditions in the north of
reward to all growers and also an opportunity the society to near perfect growing in the south
to show to the greater public what is involved , all culminating with 2 big weather events in
and expected of all farmers in their quest to be Mid harvest that brought a near record harvest
successful at what they do. back to ground level in a big way.
This year we have identified 4 new growers; On a final note I would like again to thank all
producing some of the highest quality malting four growers for allowing us the opportunity
barley in the harvest of 2020 which the industry to talk a little about their business while
has identified as premium product. They all have demonstrating their farms and congratulate
agreed to share their knowledge and practices you all on the many different aspects of farming
with us in a way that I’m sure everybody will that you practice on your holding. You all have
learn a little. I must commend each of the 4 brought something different to the event and
finalists as they are all wonderful ambassadors that’s what makes it wonderful.
to the farming industry and indeed to the drinks
The 2020 Malting Barley Competition winner will be announced on the
Dairygold Agri Business website on Friday the 26th of February
20 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
Tipperary Finalist
O'Meara's
Representing the Tipp area in the Malting Barley quality being well above average. Straw is baled by
Competition are Patrick and Gerard O’Meara who themselves and marketed to local farmers.
farm in partnership at Garnavilla, Cahir Co Tipperary
in the fertile plains of the Suir valley. Gerard is married Recently Gerard has started growing winter rye
to Alison and they have one son Patrick Jnr. They run and believes that very good yields of grain can be
an extensive tillage farm along with a store to beef achieved along with very large volumes of straw,
finishing enterprise, owning aproximately 20% of the more cost effectively than growing winter wheat.
land worked.
A local beekeeper uses the oilseed rape fields
The O’Meara’s have a good crop rotation in place, for his hives and follows their rotation each year.
fodder beet followed by spring malt barley, then Rape straw is incorporated back into the soil with
winter barley, winter oats /oilseed rape, and winter the Horsch Joker. Glyphosate is only used when
rye is also grown. necessary and believes that by limiting its usage
gets better efficiency when applied.
All beet ground gets farmyard manure pre ploughing
and pH issues are corrected. Beet tops are grazed Store cattle are bought in, to be finished indoors on
in-situ while watching ground conditions, not to a silage, fodder beet and home-saved rye mix. The
compromise on soil structure. A Horsch Joker is used O’Meara’s are very well mechanised and provide an
to till ground before drilling spring barley, minimising Agri-contracting service doing all works from stubble
soil disturbance, and protecting soil health and to stubble for local farmers. Grassland reseeding is
microorganisms. Barley is fertilised in accordance also a speciality.
with demands and full 2 spray fungicide program
applied. Gerard has used Phylgreen seaweed Although the O’Meara’s have plenty to keep
products in recent years and is seeing the benefit of themselves busy with on the farm, work is avoided
same reducing stress in times of inclement weather. if possible on Sundays and is used for family time to
Barley yields are generally 3.0-3.6 tons/acre with relax.
21South/Mid Cork Finalist
Martin Quinn
South Cork Tillage Farmer Martin Quinn farms After harvest land is grubbed with a harrow and
in Minane Bridge with his wife Mary and three sown with cover crops mainly consisting of fodder
children and is this years mid/south Cork Malting rape and leafy turnip.
Barley Grower Finalist for Dairygold. Farming 150ac
Having a strong awareness for the environment
of owned land, Martin devotes 36ac to forestry
Martin embraces sustainable farm practices
plantation and the remainder to tillage, usually split
wherever possible. For example, he refrains from
between Winter and Spring Barley and includes
trimming hedges regularly and trims the sides very
approximately 10ac of either wheat or oats for the
three years and cuts tops every four to five years,
three-crop rule.
saying he likes to give the nesting birds and wildlife
Proving to be a consistently good grower for as much of a chance as practical. Bird boxes are
Dairygold, last season Martin maintained yields of installed throughout the farm. The Minane River
3.7 T/ac for winter barley, 4.5 T/ac for winter wheat flows through parts of the farm, where fish can be
and 3.4 T/ac for spring barley. Starting off at the seen from time to time. Martin pays particular care to
last harvest Martin said he was very happy with buffer zones and always keeps the recommended
the KPH and moisture levels of the grain supplied distance from the riverbank when spraying.
to Dairygold. However, after the 25th of August
Having no cattle on the farm Martin sees as a
the weather deteriorated and simultaneously did
disadvantage in terms of having no organic manure
the quality of the grain with very little passing for
to spread and results in him spreading 13-6-20 and
malting barley after this point. Martin works closely
CAN + S fertilisers instead.
with his Dairygold ASM, Tim McCarthy where all
programs are discussed and agreed to minimize all As for the area planted with Sitka spruce; it was
pesticide usage while at the same time promoting planted because some of the land is extremely
best farming practices and applying IPM practices steep and hilly with more being marginal land,
wherever possible. making it very dangerous for working machinery. He
said there has been very little maintenance involved
Previously, Martin chopped straw to incorporate
throughout the years, removing bog elder out of
nutrients back into the soil. However, local demand
the forestry recently but other than that it has been
for straw has significantly picked up in recent years,
trouble free.
which sees Martin selling both small square bales
and round 4x4 locally. He said, if demand doesn’t In recent years Martin also runs a very successful
meet supply, he has no issue chopping it again as car hire business which takes up approximately 50%
Martin can see the return in the improvement in of his time, often late in the evenings, which fits in
fertility of the soil. nicely with his tillage farming which he takes great
pleasure and enjoyment from.
22 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
North Cork Finalist
David O'Gorman
Representing the North Cork area in the David of March, weather permitting. As soon as tramlines
O’Gorman of DGAS Agricultural Services. David can be seen a further 80 units of Nitrogen is spread
farms 150ac just outside Castletownroche where to drive growth. All spray recommendations are on
on The Bridgetown farm has grows 35ac of Malting Gatekeeper, an agronomy recording package which
Barley, along with 14ac of beans, 42ac spring feed David finds extremely helpful. Harvest is completed
barley, 43 Winter Barley and 16ac of Winter Wheat. with a Duetz-Fahr 4065 combine and help is given
from all the neighbours in the old traditional way,
This year Malting Barley and Beans were planted baling straw and sorting bales to be divided up
in the same field, with the latter being used as a between farmers.
rotation crop. David achieved 3.2t/ac of high-quality
Malting Barley on average in last year’s harvest and Both Stephanie and Ciara, David’s young helpers
attributes a lot of his success to focusing on soil enjoy crop walking during the summer with their
fertility down through the years. Soil samples are father, making a family day out of it with a treat of
taken regularly, and a crop nutrient plan is formed an ice cream from the local shop to mark the end
based on these results with advice from Margaret of the day. The farm is bounded south by the river
O’Callaghan in Fermoy and Area Sales Manager Blackwater, known to fishing visitors from all around
Michael English, ensuring optimum soil health for the world as ‘The Wood Stream’. The banks of the
best results. river Blackwater are home to…” lodge trout & salmon
fishery,” which can only be accessed by walking
Ploughing usually starts in March with a run of a down the tramlines to get to the river. The O’Gorman’s
spring harrow and a one pass system, Amazone encourage biodiversity wherever possible, which is
power harrow and Acord drill. Compound fertiliser is evident by wildlife being so plentiful around the farm
spread pre planting, and it’s all sown before the end and the water birds on the riverbanks.
23East Cork Finalist
Robert Bateman
Tillage farmer Robert Bateman is representing up his soil fertility and helps his soil structure and
East Cork, the Imokilly region, where he farms on the intention is to rotate these fields around the farm
the southern side of Castlemartyr village. The farm annually.
is surrounded by Mitchel’s Wood on one side and
Robert believes that early ploughing pays dividends
bounds the river Womanagh on the Ladysbridge
by making it easier to have a nice tilth at sowing
side in what can be described a strong land, maybe
time and better soil moisture retention during the
just a little heavy.
growing season. Robert does all the work on the
The farm has evolved from total tillage to some cereal crops from ploughing through to harvesting.
short-term grassland in recent years. Robert is a After ploughing the fields are prepared for sowing
strong advocate of good rotation practices and prior using one run of a disc harrow. Sowing is carried out
to the demise of the sugar beet crop had a simple using an Amazone one pass system and is rolled
rotation of about 50 acres of beet followed by winter soon afterwards. Robert is growing Planet spring
wheat or spring wheat and spring barley in 3rd year. barley for the last five years, each year achieving
With beet gone from the equation Robert has tried a quality sample and is very pleased with how it is
to keep as much rotation going as possible growing yielding. He uses a 2-spray fungicide programme
winter oilseed rape for a few years and has also including trace elements all under the guidance of
introduced spring beans into the rotation. his local Dairygold ASM Frank Hayes.
In recent years, Robert has entered into an All the straw is baled, the dairy farmer takes some
arrangement with a dairy farmer who is a relative of and the rest goes to a regular dealer. A contractor
his, whereby he grows maize on the farm for him and is employed to sow and harvest the maize. Robert
also sows some short term grasses which are used is joined the GLAS scheme and sows a rape leafy
for 3 silage cuts and late autumn grazing of young turnip mix after the spring barley, he also has several
dairy stock. Robert sees advantages with this system bird boxes around the farm.
as slurry from the dairy farm is spread before the
As the cereal crops now occupy only half the farm,
maize and on his grassland and farmyard manure is
Robert works full time as a marine electrician which
ploughed down before the barley. This helps keep
dovetails in nicely with his farming.
24 www.dairygoldagri.ieISSUE 1 - FEBRUARY 2021
25Grain Markets
Market Price Update
| By Frances Nash BA (Hons) U.C.C. Grain Operations Agri Business
It has certainly been a memorable year for all of us, contact with your ASM who will keep you posted
but not for all of the right reasons. The 2020 market with current prices
was stable. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and
all of the uncertainty it continues to bring, the market Other global factors such as Russian export taxes
response was meek. The November 2020 prices has helped in boosting the wheat prices but like all
averaged at €172 per tonne and wheat was a little economic factors, it will always boil back down to the
giddier but averaged at €192. The month of May basic principle of supply and demand.
2020 saw barley drop to €165 but all in all, it stayed
over the €170 for most of 2020. Wheat on the other The 2020 harvest was reasonable for those of us in
hand went from a low of €178 following Harvest 2019 the south of the country, while weather conditions
to settling on €200 in Nov 2020. presented challenges and yield was somewhat
compromised, it was much less disastrous, in the
The November 2021 Futures are strong ar present main, compared to a grower’s experience in Leinster.
moving up and down with market comments and With the 2020 harvest proving less fruitful than 2019,
external events , but mainly positive. However, this it has led to an increase in demand and driven the
can be a very fragile situation and change up or price up with it.
dope rapidly and for any interested sellers keep in
Drive on Crop Performance
with NitroFert and Achieve
High performance fertilisers
for Irish Tillage farms your Yield Potential
A Quality Range of Granular Fertilisers
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* Granular CAN * 13-6-20+Sul * 10-10-20
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For more details contact your
local Dairygold advisor
T. +353 (0) 51 425169
www.nitrofert.ie
26 www.dairygoldagri.ieYou can also read
