Arable April has kicked off around the country and, this year, the
Irish Farmers Journal has teamed up with Irish Grain Growers and Seedtech to bring you a photo competition.
The theme of the photo competition is sustainability.
Make sure to upload your photos with a good caption to let us know what you are doing.
Photos from readers across the country
Planting rooster potatoes along the coast of Skerries.\ Ian Rooney
Massey Ferguson 7726S getting ground ready for potatoes, beside the Boyne Cable Bridge.\ Aidan McCann
Getting beet in the ground in Ardcath, Co Meath. \ Andrew Tallon
Richard Murphy rolling spring malting barley variety Gangway. The crop was sown on 1 April at a rate of 11.5stone per acre and received four bags of 12-8-22 in the seedbed.
February 24, 2021 1:10 pm
The Irish drinks industry has been called on by the Irish Grain Growers Group (IGGG) to show more flexibility and financial support to its farmer suppliers.
In a statement this week, the tillage farmer association highlighted that the drinks industry wants to see an increase in the tillage area in Ireland – “and more specifically more spring barley grown due to the rise in demand for distilling grade malted barley”.
While welcoming this statement, the IGGG stressed that the industry “must step up to the plate more itself to help make this happen”.
We recognise the dip in sales due to Covid-19 in the early part of 2020 – but have also noted the sharp recovery in the second part of the year.
Irish Grain Growers Group chair Bobby Miller.
The Irish Grain Growers, while welcoming the drinks industry’s desire to increase the use of Irish malting barley, believes the industry must step up to the plate to make this happen.
“We as a country, should be aiming to have the drinks industry as valuable as the dairy industry”, said Miller, “with Whiskey tourist trails an integral part of this target post-COVID-19.”
“The reality remains that growing barley crops for the likes of Boortmalt and the Malting Company of Ireland comes with risks,” he added.
IGG wants more flexibility on protein levels, calling on Boortmalt to move to a limit of 9.8% for distilling barley and 11.4% for brewing.
The €10m straw incorporation scheme is dividing opinion among those affected.
While tillage farmers are welcoming the scheme, livestock farmers, mushroom growers and compost manufacturers and farm contractors are all predicting negative effects for their sectors.
While the details of the scheme have yet to be finalised, its shape is becoming clear. Firstly, as reported last week, farmers will receive €250/ha to chop and incorporate their straw. Farmers will apply by nominating plots of land containing cereal crops for the scheme as part of their BPS application.
Application must be on a whole-plot basis, but farmers who wish to chop part of a field, for instance the headlands, can do so by sub-dividing an existing plot.