Start your pre-harvest treatment now

TEAGASC has recommended glyphosate pre-harvest treatment for badly lodged spring barley crops in southern coastal counties, in order to facilitate timely harvesting.

“This will be particularly useful where crops are uneven and where weeds are present. Lodged crops will need protection from birds until harvest,” said Jim O’Mahony, Teagasc’s Programme Manager for tillage crops.

He said growers and the agricultural trade are keenly interested in alternative crops, and oil seed rape in particular. Oil seed rape can be grown for oil for use in the catering trade, margarine, or for biofuel, as in biodiesel.

Winter oil seed rape crops harvested last week yielded satisfactorily, at over 4.0 t/ha. It is a useful break crop, increasing the yield of the following winter wheat by about 1.5 t/ha, said Mr O’Mahony. Profit margins are similar to winter wheat, given satisfactory yields and a price of €240/tonne.

Mr O’Mahony advises growers intending to grow oil seed rape, particularly for the first time, to contact their local Teagasc tillage adviser.