The start of the 2023 cereal harvest is imminent

Only the wet weather of recent days has prevented cereal growers with early crops to combine from getting on with the job in hand.

College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) crops development advisor, Leigh McClean, takes up the story:

“Growers with early winter barley crops to cut are now actively looking for a window of opportunity to get on with the harvest.

“The hot, dry weather of recent weeks has brought six-row hybrid and some two-row barleys to full maturity.

“These crops would have been drilled last September and early October.”

According to McClean crops of winter barley, oilseed rape, oats wheat and are looking well at the present time.

He added: “Some winter cereals got off to a challenging start, given the heavy rains and wet conditions that persisted for most of last autumn.

“Some bare batches in fields resulted. However, as the season progressed, crops got the rain and the sunshine they needed, as and when it required.”

But it’s the actual yields obtained at harvest that will tell the real story of the 2022/23 growing season.

“Some winter barley yields were disappointing last year, despite crops looking well in the fields,” McClean further explained

“Growers were attributing this fall-off in final yields to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. Weather conditions for aphids, the vector of the virus, had been very suitable the previous autumn.

“Sub clinical take-all may also be an issue in winter barley.

"These are crops that are mainly grown as a second cereal within an arable rotation.

“Carry over issues relating to take-all can be an issue in this context.

“But the true determination of crop performance comes down to what comes of the combine.

"And, where winter barleys are concerned in 2023, we won’t have long to wait.”

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Leigh McClean is also secretary of the Ulster Arable Society.

Earlier this week members of the organisation gathered for their annual outing.

The event comprised visit to Belfast Docks, Mash Direct and the Agri-Food and Biosciences’ Institute (AFBI) plant testing at Crossnacreevy.

Leigh MccLean again: “Courtesy of John Thompson & Sons, we had the opportunity of the visiting the West Twin grain silos, operated by Barnett and Hall at Belfast Port.

“The combined silos and flat store facilities can hold up to 150,000t of grain. They represent a focal point for Northern Ireland’s entire feed compounding sector.”

He added: “The visit to Mash Direct allowed UAS members to gauge how the company manages the crop rotations that drive the business.”

McClean concluded: “UAS has sponsored a three-year trial at Crossnacreevy, looking at the impact of organic manures on cereal crops.

“The evening visit to the plant testing station allowed AFBI staff to update UAS members on the progress of the trial work up to this point.”