Tom Barry: ‘Respectable’ harvest won’t make up for lowest grain prices in 40 years

Despite favourable conditions, tillage farmers face economic and regulatory headwinds, writes North Cork tillage farmer Tom Barry

Tom Barry: 'Harvest 2025 has the potential to be high yielding. However, the price of grain is very disappointing, mirroring prices seen 40 years ago.' File picture: Dan Linehan

Harvest 2025 arrived this year in early July. First up was KWS Tardis winter barley. This was in two fields which received dairy slurries at growth stage 25 (mid tillering). Uptake of the organic nutrients was slow as the weather was dry. 

Yields were between 9-9.6t/ha, which is respectable but nowhere near the yields I was achieving with KWS Cassia 10 years ago.  Winter barleys need to be passing 10t/ha to keep them competitive. 

Next for harvesting was winter-sown Husky oats. This looked like a beautiful crop, received 138kg N/ha based on growth and conditions at the time and the crop yielded 9 t/ha at low moisture. I felt at flag leaf stage that this crop was a little weak on colour, so I added N16 liquid nitrogen with Mg, and certainly this helped given the dry year.

This year, I incorporated liquid N on the winter wheat and the winter rye with the fungicide applications. Two applications of approximately three units of nitrogen per acre each time seemed to really help the crops combat the drought stress. 

The proposed ban on urea, I feel, was not completely thought through as urea in a dissolved state has benefits when applied to growing grain crops, given that N applied to the leaf is more efficient than when applied to the soil and becomes immediately available to the plant. Perhaps this aspect of urea in liquified form could be looked at rather than a blanket ban as proposed.

The spring beans direct drilled in early February look well, and most importantly, are podding consistently through the crop. The pod count varies from 30 to 50, which suggests that the yield potential is high. 

These beans received two fungicides: firstly, when flowering was about to start and the second application on June 1, as any later would have led to crop damage due to plant height.

I will be repeating this method of establishment next year as direct drilling beans into an oats cover crop worked well on so many levels: there was no bare soil which might leach nutrients; the oat cover crop with its strong rooting structure kept the soil friable and free draining where the beans were set; the allelopathic effect of the oats suppressed weed growth; and there was no crow attack.

Harvest 2025 has the potential to be high yielding. However, the price of grain is very disappointing, mirroring prices seen 40 years ago. The first element of sustainability is to encourage young people into farming. It is important that they can see a viable future in tillage farming. Hopefully, a tillage support scheme will be initiated.

Farm schemes

I applied, with the help of Teagasc, for the ‘Farming for Water EIP’ scheme and received approval in May. I have approval for 13 measures ranging from a rainwater management plan to water bars and catch crop establishment. 

These are all practical measures that I can take to protect water quality. I hope this scheme is successful in gathering farmer support, as water quality is essential on so many levels. 

Like all schemes, this is complicated as it is layered on top of other farm schemes such as ACRES (Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme), BISS (Basic Income Support for Sustainability), ANC (Area of Natural Constraint), TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) and others. 

The challenges for tillage farmers are to plan for the three-crop rule, figure out the optimal farm rotation, do not duplicate any measures covered in other schemes, keep the paperwork separate and this must be planned and enacted at field level at the busiest time of the year. 

This will require co-operation between planners, DAFM (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) and farmers to ensure its success. No support scheme should be taken for granted, as I experienced recently with my TAMS 3 solar application. Hopefully, any issues will be resolved with a review.

I am currently discing the stubble from the harvested fields as part of my Nitrates obligations and also as an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategy for weed and pest control. I will be sowing and rolling in catch crops where planned as part of this. 

The fine weather and good ground conditions this year really helped get crop applications completed on time without stress. This allowed for a good work-life balance, including following the magnificent Cork hurlers this year and hoping for All-Ireland glory following a 20-year drought. 

I wish everybody a successful and safe harvest.