Eoin Lyons, in Kilkenny, is using a direct drill system to establish his crops every year and on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, he chats to Michael Hennessy about the lessons learned over the years using the direct drill establishment system and how his soils are changing over time. Eoin said that despite his plans to establish everything in the autumn, he soon realised a good rotation incorporating spring crops was critical to the success of the system.   He said that he often uses a disc in the spring to help ground to dry out and warm up to achieve a more timely planting. The Teagasc Crops Research Open Day takes place on Wednesday, June 21st.  This is a free event and everyone is welcome.  Put this in your diary now and for more details go to:https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/cropsopenday.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

For this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Michael Hennessy visited Michael Grace’s farm in Clane, Co Kildare to chat about the strip-till establishment system on the farm.   Michael Grace explains that yields are as good as any of his neighbours and he is very happy with the system.  In order to use strip-till successfully he emphasises that it is critical to have a good rotation and also to only work the soils when it is sufficiently dry enough. Michael uses strip-till to establish all of his crops from winter wheats, winter barleys, beans, oilseed rape to a range of spring crops.  He says the system has worked well for early and late sown spring barley.  However Michael did caution about the potential for grass weeds to increase rapidly. The Teagasc Crops Research Open Day takes place on Wednesday, June 21st.   This is a free event and everyone is welcome.  Put this in your diary now and for more details go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/cropsopenday.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 poor spring weather was a key topic on the latest Tillage Edge podcast when Michael Hennessy chatted to both Don Somers, a farmer from Wexford, who is also participating in the Signpost Programme, and John Mahon, his Tillage Signpost advisor.    Don said he was forced to make major changes to his cropping plans this spring.  Although these changes could affect the rotation on the farm over the next few years, Don is already planning on replacement crops to minimise disruption. John Mahon, who is Don’s Tillage Signpost advisor, said that even though Don had reduced his bean area, resulting in increased chemical nitrogen purchases, he has mitigated this by being able to reduce the overall nitrogen input to his oilseed rape crops. 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

Weed control is as important as ever in spring cereals and Ciaran Collins and Shay Phelan, both Tillage specialists in Teagasc, along with Vijaya Bhaskar, a weed researcher in Teagasc, are on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to chat about the best strategies for weed control in spring cereals.   Shay explains that good control is possible with lower rates but the weeds must be small and the herbicide applied in good growing conditions. Ciaran talks about the importance of wild oat control and how this can be timed correctly but he cautions about targeting canary grass too early.   Vijaya Bhaskar talks about herbicide resistant testing and he also encourages farmers to send samples to be tested for free.   The following contains instructions on how and when to collect samples:https://bit.ly/3MrlcgR  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 a substantial amount of BISS applications still to be submitted, there is growing pressure on all advisors to ensure farmer consultations are efficient so that all applications can be completed on time.   John Brophy, a Teagasc Advisor in Naas, is on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to chat through the major areas where a farmer can complete some pre-work before visiting their advisor. John says that, at a minimum, farmers should write down the crops sown in each field.  The farmer should have decided what fields ACRES measures, such as min till or cover crops, and also if straw chopping will be completed in this year.   John also encourages growers to have the measurements of field sub-divisions to ensure this is reflected accurately in the online maps.  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