Crops
Early harvest opportunity for forage crops
The earlier than normal harvest has created an opportunity for the establishment of forage crops on tillage farms, suited to carrying store lambs or ewes over the winter months.
1 August 2026
Disease control in fodder beet
Ciaran Collins, Teagasc Tillage Specialist outlines the benefits of disease control in fodder beet, while reminding growers not to apply fungicides to crops suffering from drought stress. Where crops are under moisture stress, fungicide application should be delayed until rainfall has allowed the crop to recover and resume active growth.
30 July 2026
Harvest 2026 – how it is shaping up so far
Shay Phelan and Ciaran Collins, Tillage Specialists, join the Tillage Edge podcast to discuss harvest yields so far and to consider possible reasons for the results.
30 July 2026
Straw chopping and incorporation: the basics and the benefits
John Mahon, Teagasc Signpost Programme, explores how straw chopping and incorporation can enhance soil health, reduce emissions and improve efficiency.
26 July 2026
What happens beneath your feet when the rain stops?
After weeks of warm, dry weather it's easy to assume that the soil beneath our feet has become lifeless. Crops are under increasing moisture stress, the soil feels hard and dry, and life beneath the surface appears to have all but disappeared. Dr. Veronica Nyhan, Soil and Plant Nutrition Specialist, tells us this isn't the case.
23 July 2026
Straw: to chop or not? Practical considerations for your farm
With the dry hot weather, harvest 2026 has started earlier than expected. Many winter barley growers have rows of golden straw ready for baling with no immediate panic on getting them baled and collected. But what about the remaining crops in a few weeks’ time; will the weather hold dry? Will there be buyers for this year’s straw? Are there alternatives to baling which make financial sense? John Mahon, Teagasc Signpost Tillage Programme Advisor, tells us more.
16 July 2026
Why cation exchange capacity matters on your farm
Eddie Casey spoke to Michael Hennessy at the recent Johnstown Castle Research Centre Open Day to talk about Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and why it’s important for farmers to understand their soils and the actions they can take to influence CEC and nutrient retention.
16 July 2026
Trends in off-farm employment and pensions on Irish farms
Preliminary results of the National Farm Survey 2025 were presented earlier this week. Interesting trends in both farm holder and farm household (farmer and spouse) off-farm employment across farm systems were presented.
12 July 2026
Weed Watch 2026: Final chance for free herbicide resistance testing
Harvest 2026 is an opportune time for cereal growers to collect suspect weed seeds for their own resistance testing - a unique free service from Oak Park. As part of the DAFM-funded EVOLVE project, this is the final opportunity for widespread testing of suspected grass or broadleaf weed populations, according to Teagasc’s Vijaya Bhaskar.
10 July 2026
Silver Y Moth Caterpillars detected in crops – advice on identification, monitoring and control
Over the past 7–10 days, there have been increasing reports of caterpillar feeding in crops of spring beans, sugar beet and maize, Lousie McNamara, Michael Gaffney and Ciaran Collins share key advice on identification, monitoring and control.
9 July 2026