Gearing up for Crops and Cover Crop Cultivations 2023
Teagasc and the Irish Farmers Journal have teamed up for the major tillage event of the year - Crops and Cover Crop Cultivations, which will be held at Oak Park on Wednesday, June 21st.
This biennial event will incorporate machinery demonstrations, as well as the Teagasc Crops Research programme, which will be on display across field trials and active demonstrations at the Carlow site.
Covering a range of topics, attendees will hear research-led advice on crop nutrition, increasing use of IPM for future pest and control as well as demonstrating added value opportunities for plant protein. Coping with volatile markets, reduced pesticide efficacy and increasing environmental constraints underlines the importance of the on-going research and makes adoption of the latest proven technologies essential for future sustainability goals.
This year’s event will have four elements, delivered across five demonstration areas. The Oak Park Crops Research programme will be presented across all five demonstration areas and includes all elements of the programme.
In the below video, Ewen Mullins, Head of Crop Science Department, Teagasc tells us more about what to expect on the day.
Establishment machinery demonstration
In conjunction with the Irish Farmers Journal, the stubble cultivation and cover crop establishment demonstration will display eight categories of implements working on barley stubble, including: tine stubble cultivator; disc stubble cultivator; tine and disc stubble cultivator; straw rake / comb for seed chit; roller; min-till drill; strip-till drill; and direct drills.
Teagasc’s Dermot Forristal will lead the discussions on the techniques and machines displayed and will be joined by Siobhán Walsh, Irish Farmers Journal, with support from Peter Thomas Keaveney and Gary Abbott, Irish Farmers Journal.
Mechanical weed control in horticultural crops
A first for the event, the mechanical weed control options for horticultural crops will feature at Crops and Cover Crop Cultivations 2023. With input from the Irish Farmers Journal team, a working demonstration of mechanical weeding systems including camera guided and autonomous systems will feature.
In addition to the demonstrations, a number of support stands will be present on the day, where advice and technical information from the Agricultural Catchments Programme, Signpost Programme and Health and Safety initiatives will be outlined.
For a full list of the demonstrations on the day and the timings at which they occur, click here.