Signpost: Planting later than normal this year, but never again, warns Tom

Tom Barry on the Barry family farm at Kilavullen, Co Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

The establishment of winter crops in late 2022 was a difficult task. The removal of the seed dressing ‘Redigo Deter’ from the market has left early sown winter barley vulnerable to barley yellow dwarf virus. 

This aphid-transmitted disease can have devasting yield consequences on winter barley crops, and its effects only become obvious in the following May, when all the expense of growing the crop has occurred.