The Tillage Edge

In the second part of our four part series looking at protein crops, the Tillage Edge podcast catches up with members of the National Protein Stakeholder Group to discuss the ambitions and goals of the group.     Mick Fawle, from Charles R Wynnes, a merchant in the south east, explains how the company helps to grow, purchase and use these proteins in mainstream and niche feed rations.    Mick also...

The cost of nitrogen is stubbornly high but the cost differential between CAN and urea can be exploited to cut costs this year on tillage farms.     Dr. Richie Hackett from Teagasc joins The Tillage Edge podcast this week to chat about how to grow high yielding crops from urea whilst reducing the costs of production.   Richie highlights that a farmer using urea as the main nitrogen source on 40 he...

As the soils dry out, farmers are beginning to venture into fields to plough, plant and in some cases fertilise crops.     Ciaran Collins and Shay Phelan, both Teagasc Tillage Specialists, join Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to discuss winter crops and the agronomic actions which are needed in the coming weeks.   Shay said planning is critical to get the best outcome and this...

This is the first of four episodes looking at protein production in Ireland and how it can be developed over the next number of years.     In Part 1 of the series, Michael Hennessy chats to Ciaran Collins, a Tillage Specialist in Teagasc, about the profitability of beans in 2023 and how to grow a high yielding crop.   Ciaran told the podcast he expects beans to be twice as profitable as spring bar...

This is this final episode of four for The Tillage Edge’s special soil series and this week we return to Professor Mike McLaughlin, from the University of Adelaide, to chat about soil health and how soils can be improved.     Mike discusses how to measure soil health and how useful this measure is.  Mike points to American research by the Soil Health Institute which narrowed down the parameters to...

This is the third episode of four for The Tillage Edge’s special soil series and this week, Dr Karen Daly, a soil scientist from Teagasc, joins Michael Hennessy to chat about the types of soil test used to measure critical nutrients and the tests most suitable to Irish conditions.     Karen explains that there are many types of soil tests but the Morgan’s test is the most suitable to Irish conditi...

The second part of The Tillage Edge’s special soil series sees Professor Mike McLaughlin continue his in-depth look at soil and its functionality with nutrients.   Prof. McLaughlin discusses potash and how it can interact with soils and plants, and he also talks about nutrient uptake through the leaves, the efficiency of this process, but also the drawbacks.  Mike, originally from Antrim, has work...

Soils are the most important resource the human race has.  Without a productive soil there wouldn’t be any farming or food production.  Understanding the core functionality of soil is fundamental to a management strategy for a long term productive soil.       Over the next four episodes on the Tillage Edge in January, we will explore the fundamentals of soils in terms of make-up and chemistry, how...

With the year coming to an end,  you may be reflecting on the good and bad points of 2022, trying to remember the areas where improvement on your farm is needed.     Recording your farm operation, whether it’s fertiliser, pesticides or other inputs, is critical to determining the margin per field or crops.     If you are not able to do this then it will be difficult to put in place the correct mea...

As the year draws to a close, the Teagasc outlook is predicting tillage income to halve in 2023 in comparison to 2022 with many farms close to a break-even scenario.     Farmers need to manage their risks carefully next year and to discuss this, tillage specialists, Ciarán Collins and Shay Phelan, join Michael Hennessy to look ahead to the new CAP, the Nitrates Directive and how best to balance hi...

Tillage farmers were part of a roller coaster year in 2022.  The year started out with uncertainty due to high costs, then to very high grain prices in mid-year, then to lower plantings in the autumn and a falling grain market at present.        Ciarán Collins and Shay Phelan join Michael Hennessy on the latest Tillage Edge podcast to discuss the highs and lows of 2022 and pick out the lessons tha...

There are many different career paths people can take within the tillage industry, from tillage farming to all the way to becoming the CEO of large businesses.     Barry Larkin, CEO of Acorn, joins Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to chat about his career to date and the varied journey he took to his current role.   Barry started his education in UCD and then spent some time as...

Despite the very wet weather over the past two months, winter oilseed rape has grown strongly but these conditions are also good for foliar disease development.     Dr. Stephen Kildea joins the Tillage Edge podcast this week to talk about disease levels in oilseed rape and if control is necessary.   Dr. Kildea encourages all growers to walk their fields to look for Phoma and Light Leaf Spot (LLS)...

The new CAP starts in January 2023 and it brings with it new rules which farmers need to follow to receive their payments.     Michael Moloney, from the Department of Agriculture, joins the Tillage Edge podcast to chat through some of the changes around conditionality, especially land management issues.   Michael explains that, even though there are some new rules, most of the rules in the new CAP...

The wet autumn has slowed crop emergence and given soil pests such as slugs an upper hand to inflict damage on emerging crops and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Ciaran Collins, a Tillage Specialist in Teagasc, discusses how to monitor numbers and deploy control measures where necessary.   Ciaran explains that slug damage could come in a number of forms from grazing leaves, seed hollowing or...

Tillage farmers will be required to register for the Fertiliser Database with the Department of Agriculture from January next year.     Finbarr Regan from the Department of Agriculture talks to Michael Hennessy on the latest Tillage Edge podcast about how farmers will interact with the fertiliser register when buying fertilisers in 2023.   Finbarr explains that all farmers purchasing fertiliser wi...

The weather through 2022 has adversely affected potato yields and a reduction of at least 15% is expected.     The very wet weather has delayed harvest and more yield losses are expected from these unharvested crops.     On the Tillage Edge this week Shay Phelan, a potato specialist in Teagasc, discusses how potato farmers are coping with the wet conditions and extremely high costs this year.   Sh...

Later sown crops that did not receive a pre-emergence herbicide present more challenges for growers to control grass weeds this autumn and Ciaran Collins, a Tillage Specialist, joined the Tillage Edge podcast to discuss how to manage these later sown crops over the coming months, including weed control options.   Ciaran emphasises the importance of early control of annual meadow grass in winter ba...

Ireland has a relatively small organic sector and the number of tillage farmers within this is smaller again, however there is now a sustained drive from the EU and the government to convert more farms to organic production and to grow this market.   Martin Bourke is a specialist tillage, organic advisor with Teagasc and he joins Michael Hennessy on the latest Tillage Edge podcast to discuss some...

Winter cereal plantings are continuing apace this week, albeit growers are grabbing every chance they have through the bands of rain every 2-3 days.     Last year BYDV was a problem on many farms, and not only farms with early sown crops, but later sown crops in the south of the country were also badly affected in places.     It’s important to understand when crops are most at risk and the best st...

Continuing a series of interviews with tillage farmers who are involved with the various programmes in Teagasc, on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Michael Hennessy finds out more about the Enable Conservation Tillage Project which enables farmers to embrace non-plough based tillage systems whilst at the same time cope with grass weeds that can emerge.   Bill Shanahan, a farmer from Waterford, an...

Following on from the Crops Forum which was held recently, on this week’s episode of the Tillage Edge podcast, you’ll hear from moderator Andy Doyle discussing the issue of fertiliser supply and costs with Kieran McEvoy from the IFA, Clive Carter from IGG, as well as Donal Maloney from Tirlán, Enda McDonald from Grassland Agro, Bill Callanan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine,...

The Crops Forum was held recently with an excellent line up and a very interesting discussion from a panel of experts across the country.      And on this week’s episode of the Tillage Edge podcast, you’ll hear from moderator Andy Doyle discussing the financial risks of the year ahead with Kieran McEvoy from the IFA, Clive Carter from IGG, as well as Donal Maloney from Tirlán, Enda McDonald from G...

Application of pesticides is highly regulated but new rules are coming down the track which are being formulated by the EU at the moment and Anne Marie Dillon from the Department of Agriculture and the Marine joined Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to outline what is contained in these EU proposals.   The areas of concern include: increased recording at farm level, reductions o...

Vincent Macken is a Tillage Signpost farmer in county Meath and along with his Teagasc advisor, Shane Kennedy, he joined Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to discuss sustainable farming in practice.      Vincent said he is developing practices on the farm such as increasing the number of crops in the rotation and focusing on healthy soils both of which are helping to reduce inpu...