Early Harvest Results Show Disappointing Tillage Yields

Issued 24 July, 2002

Early harvest indications show a significant drop in tillage yields, according to Jim O'Mahony, Chief Tillage Adviser with Teagasc.

With up to 50% of winter barley crops now harvested, Jim O'Mahony said that yields are disappointing and reflect the impact of the wet weather on tillage crops.

''Winter barley crops harvested to date are yielding from 5.0 to 8 tonnes/hectare (2.0- 3.2tonnes/acre) which is around 0.5 tonnes below yields achieved in 2001'', he said.

He said the real barometer of the harvest will be the performance of winter wheat and spring barley crops which account for the bulk of the tillage area. Because of the exceptional sowing conditions last autumn, a record 90,000 hectares of winter wheat was sown by farmers. A total of 165,000 hectares of spring barley was also sown this year.

''Wet weather diseases, such as Septoria in winter wheat and Rhynchosporium in spring barley, are widespread at present. It is now too late for farmers to apply chemicals to control these diseases''.

''While we must wait until these crops are harvested to get a definitive picture, it would appear that yields of both winter wheat and spring barley could be up to one tonne/hectare (0.4 tonne/acre) lower than last year'', said Jim O'Mahony.

He said the 20,000 hectare oats crop looks promising and yields are expected to be similar to last year. While maize crops have improved dramatically during the past two weeks, yields and quality are expected to be significantly lower than last year.