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 to measure soil components, the influence various inputs can have and how soils can be improved over time.  

On this first part, Michael Hennessy is joined by Professor Mike McLaughlin, originally from county Antrim, who is a Research Professor with the University of Adelaide, Australia and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with Teagasc.  

Professor McLaughlin established the Fertilizer Technology Research Centre at the University of Adelaide in 2007 supported by The Mosaic Company LLC and conducted many projects through Australian rural research corporations and the Australian Research Council.  

Prof. McLaughlin talks about the basics of soil and how factors in soils help or hinder nutrient uptake.  He also talks about the function of clay and how low pH can affect the very nature of clay including dissolving the clay and affecting the cation exchange function of the soil.

Prof. McLaughlin says that when DAP is applied to the soil it starts off quite alkaline but then as the ammonia breaks down becomes acidic which can help with uptake in higher pH soils. 

Next week, Professor McLaughlin discusses a soil’s functionality with nutrients.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 measures to rectify any issues.  

Teagasc have joined forces with Farmplan to increase the level of digital recording by tillage farmers, and for this week’s episode of The Tillage Edge podcast, Michael Hennessy is joined by Ben Hatton from Farmplan to explain more about the programme, how farmers can avail of the software and the benefits they will get from it.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 high fertiliser costs with reduced grain prices.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 that can be learned along the way.

Ciarán talked about the uncertainty at the start of the year, especially during the first couple of months of the Ukraine war as costs were rocketing but grain was lagging behind. 

Shay suggested one lesson we need to bring from 2022 is to use inputs more wisely, as was the case with chemical nitrogen and the use of organic manures.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 an agronomist in Australia before returning to Ireland.  

Barry says that having crops’ knowledge as part of your education gives any person a passport to travel and work across the world as crops are the major enterprise in almost all countries across the globe.  

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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) and recommends if LLS  is not visible to take some leaf samples put in a bag, leave in a warm environment and assess after a couple of days.  

If no disease is present then there is probably no need to apply a fungicide.   

Stephen also goes through the disease threshold levels before control is necessary.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 will be familiar to most farmers.  

Michael also points to the interaction of the Nitrate regulations, especially around the establishment of green cover, as one of the major changes for tillage farmers.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 cutting the emerging stem just below the ground.  

Ciaran recommends setting up slug traps and following threshold numbers before applying control measures. 

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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 will be required to register their herd number on the database and will be required to give their Herd Number to the merchant every time fertiliser is purchased.  

The merchant will then upload this data to the DAFM database allowing tracking of all purchases.  

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

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.

Shay says that there is approximately 20-30% of the potato crop unharvested and higher field losses can be expected.  

Shay also says that not only will growers spend more money on harvesting and storage of these crops, but the storage losses will also be higher.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com