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 the new tool from Teagasc which incorporates the latest Irish specific information to ensure greater accuracy in the figures. 

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

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 crops.
 
Shay explains that the winter crop walks will cover all of the main cereals as well as oilseed rape and beans. 

The walks will provide all attendees with a blueprint around the agronomy decisions in winter crops. 

Everyone is welcome to the crop walks and for more information go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/events

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 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 market has shrunk by about a third over the past two year, mainly due to price issues.  He is particularly worried about the drop-off in the use of Phosphate and Potash.  

Peter then gives a rundown of a mined rock called Polysulphate which is rich in potash (11.6%) and sulphur (19.2%), which, Peter says, for tillage farmers, the product is generally within an N,P,K blend.

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

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 for phosphate to this parcel.

Veronica then explains how the new fertiliser register changes the dynamics of how the Department of Agriculture can use this information during inspections.  

There is very little, if any, wriggle room for farmers at inspection as the DAFM have a track record of all of the purchases of chemical fertilisers.  

National Tillage Conference

The Teagasc National Tillage Conference takes place on January 31st in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny.

The conference will have a mix of research and addressing the current issues both in presentation format and in workshop sessions.  

For further details of the conference and to register click here: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/national-tillage-conference-2024.php

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 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 the desire to improve attendee participation in the discussions.

The conference will have a mix of research and addressing the current issues both in presentation format and in the workshop sessions.  

Ewen highlights the different topics being covered including the exciting research where molecular screening is able to quickly map fungal pathogens which could be of concern to growers through the year.  

For further details of the conference and to register click here: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/national-tillage-conference-2024.php

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

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.  Understanding the core functionality of soil is fundamental to a management strategy for a long term productive soil.    

Prof. Mike 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. 

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

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 can establish the desired crops.

To discuss what 2024 holds, Teagasc Tillage Specialists, Shay Phelan and Ciaran Collins join Michael Hennessy on the first Tillage Edge podcast of the year to discuss what to expect and how to plan for the year ahead.

Teagasc Survey
Teagasc have launched a survey to help identify the areas planted this autumn.  The wet conditions have persisted from mid-September to late-November hindering planting in all areas.  This loss of winter crop area this autumn looks to be compounded by a lack of seed for spring cereals, which may lead to unsown land on many farms in 2024.  Teagasc are asking for as many tillage farmers as possible to participate in order to get the best picture of the national areas as possible.

How much planting have you completed this Autumn? Will you plant more winter cereal in Jan/Feb? We would like to get your feedback to create a national picture of winter plants this year and your intentions for 2024.   

See the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9VQ2CQD

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

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 the ECT Grass Weed Conference in November about black grass and how to eliminate it from farms.

You can also view the presentation at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOtyctCulNg&ab_channel=TeagascCrops

Teagasc Survey
Teagasc have launched a survey to help identify the areas planted this autumn.  The wet conditions have persisted from mid-September to late-November hindering planting in all areas.  This loss of winter crop area this autumn looks to be compounded by a lack of seed for spring cereals, which may lead to unsown land on many farms in 2024.  Teagasc are asking for as many tillage farmers as possible to participate in order to get the best picture of the national areas as possible.

How much planting have you completed this Autumn? Will you plant more winter cereal in Jan/Feb? We would like to get your feedback to create a national picture of winter plants this year and your intentions for 2024.   

See the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9VQ2CQD

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 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 join this week’s show.

Teagasc Survey
Teagasc have launched a survey to help identify the areas planted this autumn.  The wet conditions have persisted from mid-September to late-November hindering planting in all areas.  This loss of winter crop area this autumn looks to be compounded by a lack of seed for spring cereals, which may lead to unsown land on many farms in 2024.  Teagasc are asking for as many tillage farmers as possible to participate in order to get the best picture of the national areas as possible.

How much planting have you completed this Autumn? Will you plant more winter cereal in Jan/Feb? We would like to get your feedback to create a national picture of winter plants this year and your intentions for 2024.   

See the link below
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9VQ2CQD

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 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 quite comfortable.  

The market has bumped along within a narrow range for the past few months but is in a downward trajectory.  According to Phelim a large shock is needed for the markets to kick start into an upward trend. 

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