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There is an urgency now to get spring crops sprayed for weeds, disease and possibly growth regulation.
Enough rain now: While rain was needed in May, most tillage regions have now received well above their monthly long term average, some are almost twofold and this is causing difficulties in getting work done.
Most spring crops have recovered well from the early dryness, but some still show yellow patches in fields, which may be more to do with lack of growth than element deficiency.
A few weeks ago work was generally up-to-date on tillage farms. Now, a lot of spring barley crops are waiting on their first fungicide, as broken weather continues to delay application. The same can be said of fungicide application to all winter crops.
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An example of the root system under an establishing crop of barley and peas on Norman s farm.
Norman Dunne –
Kilgraigue,
Co Meath
Norman Dunne only finished sowing last Sunday ahead of the forecasted break in the weather, which gave his crops a much-needed drink.
This last crop sown was what Norman called a ‘summer cover’, or a catch crop mix in one slot in his rotation to help the soil.
The mix included many different species to give a variety of root structures to help soil structure and crop productivity.
A few weeks earlier, Norman completed his planting of combi-crop mixes to include barley or oats with peas, and these crops are now emerging
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It is important to get some fertiliser incorporated into the seedbed ahead of planting. \ Donal O Leary
A variable week: Weather dominated what you could do on land over the past week as ground conditions continue to be variable because of either recent rain or heavier ground. Some growers are finished planting, others have some land that has remained too damp to work, while others got rained off yet again.
Rainfall over the week varied from 2.6mm in south Wexford to 53.4mm in east Galway and the month to date varies from either side of 30mm across much of the east coast to 80mm in Mullingar, with even higher amounts further west.