Ireland
September 2, 2019
“Reliable, reliable, reliable”, just as the property market depends on ‘location’, tillage farmers need reliable varieties that will pay the bills at the end of the year.
Belfry Hybrid Barley will contribute to the 40% increase in Hybrid Barleys sown this year.
This theme of reliability featured strongly when Seedtech went to visit several tillage farmers after harvest 2019 to discuss how they got on with hybrid barley.
The area of winter barley reached an all-time high of just over 80,000 ha in 2019 so many farmers and fields grew winter barley for the first time, and many other tillage farmers had significant increases in their winter barley area. This brings its challenges such as rotation, workload spread, pest and disease management.
Independent Advisor, Jim O Neill strongly believes that “over the years with my farmers, Hybrid Barleys have improved quite a lot, both in terms of straw characteristics and quality.”
The three-crop rule and lack of break crop options have forced many growers to grow winter barley and into land that might not be overly suitable for winter barley. Jim says “Some land that wouldn’t be regarded as Barley land is quite tricky to grow. Hybrid Barley really wins here. We found that Hybrid Barley can thrive better and grow well under tricky conditions’’
Darragh Cleary farming in Co. Kildare said, “plant breeders have perfected what we're looking for; high grain & straw yields and high-quality kph.” Darragh is very happy with the reliability of Hybrid Barley since he switched away from conventional barley varieties five years ago, “Hybrid barley provides reliability in yields, suppression of grass weeds, its an easier crop to mind during the year and you have the added benefits in crop rotation.”
While ‘pub yields’ are high in 2019, the reality is, not all winter barley crops left a decent margin for the grower’s time, effort and money. What might have happened to reduce winter barley yields on your farm, and what can you do to avoid the same mistake in 2020? The fine weather in autumn 2018 tempted many growers into fields earlier than advisable, increasing the risk of BYDV and Take-all. Both problems were multiplied during the mild winter/early spring and added a few more such as mildew, septoria nodorum and the spot form of net blotch. For the 2020 harvest, delaying drilling will help BYDV and Take-all but runs the risk of unfavourable seedbeds. This is where Belfry and Bazooka, with their hybrid vigour, really come into their own and offer a proven solution to growers.
The growers Seedtech visited commented on how disease and BYDV did not seem to be much of an issue in their crops of Bazooka and Belfry. Pat Keenan, a Belfry grower in Kildare, found that there was very little disease in his crop of Belfry compared to other crops this year. Larry Flood who has grown Hybrid Barley for several years agreed that it is easier to control disease in Hybrid Barley, as it is not as prone to disease as a 2-row variety.
From listening to the testimonials from these growers, one common theme is evident, and that is the consistent performance of both Belfry and Bazooka across a variety of soil types, rotations, and climates. This is not surprising as Belfry and Bazooka topped the Department of Agriculture Rec List 2019 and uniquely combine; very high grain yields, grain quality, disease resistance, and straw yields. All reasons why these two varieties increased the overall tonnes delivered and bales sold on tillage farms in 2019.
Gary Prendergast heard about Hybrid Barley from his discussion group, and its performance has given Gary the confidence to drill the majority of his winter barley fields with hybrid varieties, Belfry and Bazooka.
“I found that the Hybrid Barley yielded well this year and I would have got about a half a ton more than my two-row on average. The KPH is equally as good, so quality is not an issue with the varieties that are there,” said Larry Flood in Rathangan, Co. Kildare.
For any farmer interested in growing for the first time Hybrid Barley this autumn, the seeding rate is 200 seeds per m2 versus conventional at 350 seeds per m2. The Agronomy is so easy it has four simple steps;
1. Seeding: Correct seeding rate (200 seeds/m2)
2. Fertiliser: Early Nitrogen in spring (GS 25-30)
3. Spraying: Early PGR/Fungicide in spring (GS 30)
4. Harvesting: Correct combine settings
If you would like to know more about Hybrid Barley varieties Belfry & Bazooka contact your local merchant or call Seedtech on 051832814, message us here http://seedtech.ie/en/contact
or check out our Hybrid Barley Agronomy guide here
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