Vincent Macken - January 2024
The Circular Economy
I attended the Teagasc National Tillage conference at the end of January which I really enjoyed. The format was excellent and offered an opportunity to attend different workshops which were interactive and informative. At one of those, an interesting point was made when discussing the synergies between dairy and tillage farmers. Installing a tank to take in slurry from dairy farms would be an option for me, there is great grant aid available. However it is extremely important to know where the slurry is coming from. There is a high risk of grass weeds entering the farm through the slurry so knowing the source and building a relationship with the supplier would be essential to prevent future problems.
Spraying
I have sprayed off all my cover crops in the recent mild weather. These have the ability to capture soil nutrients and to benefit the following crop. I have been planting cover crops for many years now and have been able to reduce my overall fertiliser usage on the farm, while improving water quality.
Spring Crops
Currently, I am unsure how much spring crops will be going in, due to bare patches in the winter wheat which require to be re-sown. Spring bean seed is bought so I plan to sow from the 1st of March if the weather is right. My spring bean area will be increased this year, spring barley is not a great option for my heavy ground whereas beans are more suited. Beans can fix their own nitrogen from the atmosphere so no chemical N is used, resulting in reducing my carbon footprint.
Spring barley will be sown from the 17th March. I have the seed ordered, some will be native and some will be imported.
Ordering Fertiliser
I am in the process of ordering some chemical fertiliser. I will be more inclined to spread a compound this year rather than a blend. Last year it was difficult to spread a blend as the granules were different sizes meaning they travelled different distances. This year, the main CCF I will be using is 9-7.4-25 + 2S, along with my straight nitrogen option of protected urea + S.
I have applied for ACRES this year, the measures I have chosen were Riparian buffer zones, Riparian buffer strips and min-till cultivation. Buffer zones are essential for maintaining water quality and min-till protects biodiversity in the soil as well as capturing carbon.
Soil Sampling
Soil samples were taken over the last few months. 53 samples were taken from 80 ha. I like to split fields into different plots. This allows me to tailor nutrient requirement to various parts of the field. This reduces the risk of leaching valuable nutrients. My ground is slightly low in K, this method of soil sampling lets me to apply K to the areas that need it the most.
Like many other farmers around the country, I am waiting for ground to dry out to try and get some work done. Early spring is a waiting game and hopefully some nice dry weather is on the way.