The Tillage Edge

Grass weeds can be a serious risk to tillage farmers, and unlike the weather or international markets, grass weed prevention and eradication is something that is in the farmer’s control.   Teagasc advisor, John Mahon, and Vijaya Bhaskar, Teagasc weed researcher, are on this week's Tillage Edge podcast to discuss grass weeds and how important it is to be vigilant at this time of year to prevent spr...

Spring crops will develop quickly in the shorter season and timing of the necessary inputs will be difficult.     Shay Phelan and Ciaran Collins, Teagasc Tillage Specialists, join this week’s Tillage Edge to talk about sequencing the critical inputs to crops.   Shay says growers should be cautious about nitrogen rates to ensure malting barley quality is achieved and Ciaran talks through how to seq...

BYDV levels are high and it can have a significant negative yield impact in both winter and spring crops.   Dr Louise McNamara joins The Tillage Edge this week to chat about the current BYDV levels in winter crops and how to minimise BYDV in spring crops.   Louise says it is too late to control aphids in winter crops but almost all spring crops are at a high risk from BYDV and it is critical to co...

Contractors play a vital role in the tillage industry and this week on The Tillage Edge podcast, Michael Hennessy chats to two contractors, Patrick Nolan, who is working close to Athy, Co Kildare and Padraig Noonan, close to Conna in Cork.      Both men outline the pressures to completing work during the past 10 days with Padraig saying they have completed most of the spring planting, however he m...

Life Scientific, is an Irish company researching, developing and manufacturing off-patent plant protection products for the global market.     For this week’s Tillage Edge, Michael Hennessy was joined by Ruth Stanley, the Ireland and UK country manager, to tell us a bit more about the company, and by Scott Lovell, from Croplink, who distribute some of their products.   Ruth and Scott explain how L...

Teagasc Tillage Specialists, Ciaran Collins and Shay Phelan, joined Michael Hennessy on the latest Tillage Edge podcast to talk about winter crop management over the next couple of weeks.     First, Ciaran touched on the complexity of applying multiple products to crops which have not received any treatment yet.    He says that winter barley which is due to receive broad weed herbicide, plant grow...

The continuing poor weather is forcing many farmers to change their cropping decisions and on this week’s Tillage Edge, Ciaran Collins and Shay Phelan, both Tillage Specialists in Teagasc, discuss the benefits and risks of making cropping changes.   Shay explains that the choice between planting seed which cannot be returned and leaving it in the shed for next year is made even more difficult as t...

Jim McCarthy joins the Tillage Edge again this week with the latest on managing the 16,000 hectare farm in Romania and to share some insights on the global grain trade.     Jim discusses the agronomy of growing crops in Romania and how the farm is growing most of their crops using less nitrogen but with an increased use of digital farming methods.   Jim says the use of precision farming allows gra...

Buffer zones are important to protect waterbodies and Hugh Rooney, a Teagasc ASSAP advisor, joins this week’s Tillage Edge to talk about how buffer zones are necessary and what benefits these areas can bring.       Hugh explains that protecting waterbodies from nitrates, phosphates, sediment, pesticides and organic matter are all crucial to help the healthy status of rivers.   He highlights the ar...

Sean Kelly, who is a Member of the European Parliament for Ireland South, joined the Tillage Edge this week to chat about how EU policy is put in place and the influence farmers can have when these policies are being devised.     Firstly, Sean welcomed the move by the EU to reduce red tape and is keen to follow this through to implementation.    He said farmers and the farming lobby need to have a...

A recent Signpost farm event on the Kepak farm in Dunboyne, Co Meath focused on the use of slurry on their tillage farm.  Sam Myles, the farm manager, Veronica Nyhan, a soil nutrition specialist, and John Mahon, Signpost Farm advisor, all joined Michael Hennessy on the Tillage Edge to discuss utilising slurry on a tillage farm.   Sam Myles explains that the farm produces enough slurry to cover 1,0...

The Teagasc Crops Team have launched the Crop Report Platform which is a comprehensive information hub for the agronomy of crops in Ireland.  Shay Phelan and Ciaran Collins, both Tillage Specialists in Teagasc joined this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to chat through the main features of the platform.    “Users can get access to information quickly through the new platform and the information is val...

Despite the cold weather, oilseed rape is actively growing.  Management decisions are needed on most crops in the coming days and weeks and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, John Spink, the Head of Crops, Environment and Land Use (CELUP) in Teagasc, discusses the tools and management which should be used by all farmers growing oilseed rape to ensure high yield later in the year.   John says the...

Many farmers are contemplating if their winter crops have enough plants to give a viable return and at the same time, are anxious to start the management of good crops on the farm.     On this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Shay Phelan and Ciaran Collins, who are both Tillage Specialists in Teagasc, chat through the factors that should be considered before taking out a planted crop and managing heal...

The National Tillage Conference which took place in late January this year, covered a range of topics around research and the future direction of tillage.     On this episode of the Tillage Edge, you’ll hear from John Spink, Head of Crops Environment and Land Use in Teagasc, who spoke at the conference on how to calculate carbon use or Green House Gasses (GHG) on tillage farms.     John outlined t...

Teagasc are running a series of Winter Crop walks across the country from February 13-16th and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast,  Shay Phelan, a Tillage Specialist in Teagasc, chats about what to expect at the walks.  As many crops are patchy or have poor establishment, Shay says farmers need to be more proactive in their own crops rather than leaving all of the decisions to the person walking...

The fertiliser supply chain and costs have been very volatile over the past couple of years and on the latest Tillage Edge podcast, Liam Dunphy, the Managing Director of Gouldings, and Peter Scott, Technical Director of The Fertiliser Division in Origin Enterprises Ireland/UK, join Michael Hennessy to talk about the fertiliser market and also Polysulphate.   Liam explains how the Irish fertiliser...

Fertiliser is one of the largest variable costs every year on tillage farms and on the latest Tillage Edge podcast, Dr Veronica Nyhan, a tillage advisor in Teagasc, chats through the benefits of planning the correct nutrients for each crop in 2024.     Veronica explains that the basis of a nutrient management plan are soil samples which are up to date.  Without these results there is no allowance...

The Teagasc National Tillage Conference takes place on January 31st in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Dr Ewen Mullins, Head of Crops Research, Oak Park, Carlow, joins us to talk about the exciting line up and the change of format for the conference this year.     Ewen explains the change to the conference format is due to feedback from previous conferences and...

This week's episode is a repost of an episode from January 2023 with Professor Mike McLaughlin, originally from county Antrim, who is a Research Professor with the University of Adelaide, Australia and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with Teagasc.       Soils are the most important resource the human race has.  Without a productive soil there wouldn’t be any farming or food production.  Under...

Having an optimistic view is one of the cornerstones for all farmers, and although undoubtedly there will be challenges in 2024, there are plenty of areas that tillage farmers can still be positive about.   Farmers are playing catch-up in terms of planted area on most farms which may present some difficulties in the early part of the season, but if the weather co-operates, then hopefully farmers c...

Grass weeds are a problem on almost all farms in Ireland and the scale of the increase and the measures necessary to control them is less well known.  Black grass is in every county in the country and while it can be relatively easy to keep it out, it takes vigilance. To get a better insight into the topic, this week’s Tillage Edge podcast features Dr. Sarah Cook from ADAS in the UK, who spoke at...

As the end of the year approaches, most tillage farmers will want to forget 2023.  Unfortunately it will be remembered as a year of weather extremes and the resulting difficulties. But it is beneficial to look back on how we dealt with the year and if we would have made any decisions differently. To look back on the tillage year that was, Teagasc Tillage Specialists, Ciaran Collins and Shay Phelan...

The grain markets over the past few months have not hit the headlines but are still happily functioning in the background.     On the latest Tillage Edge podcast, Phelim Dolan, a grain trader in Comex-McKinnon, chats to Michael Hennessy about the current markets and what to expect in the coming months.   Phelim highlights how the world had a good harvest in 2023 and the stocks-to-use-ratio are qui...

Sprayer frost damage becomes apparent after the thaw and often when the machine is needed next and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Dermot Forristal, a researcher in Teagasc, joins Michael Hennessy to talk about protecting sprayers and tractors from frost over the winter.   Dermot highlights the importance of getting the dilution of the antifreeze correct.  He says farmers need to factor in th...