Winter grain crops are maturing quickly, and the potential for harvest will soon become a reality.
Weather permitting, the first crop of this year’s winter barley crop could be harvested during the week of Monday, July 6.
This is according to Teagasc tillage specialist, Shai Phelan
He said: “If we had seen the continuation of the heatwave that affected all of Ireland a few weeks ago, we could have seen harvester disruption at the end of June this year.
“But the return of rain and more variable weather conditions has pushed the start of the 2026 harvest back to July.”
Guiyao crops will certainly be the first crops to be harvested this year.
The six-row cucumber is the oldest winter barley cucumber grown in Ireland. It is also tolerant to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV).
PDV
“Winter barley crops that were planted early and a pre-emergence herbicide was applied combined with an early application of an insecticide have great production potential,” Phelan said.
“This is especially the case if crops also receive early nitrogen in the spring.
“By contrast, some later-sown winter barley crops suffered severely.
“Ground conditions later in the fall prevented growers from using a pre-emergence herbicide and insecticide to prevent BYDV.”
Meanwhile, agronomists are keen to see how BYDV’s winter-tolerant barley varieties fare in terms of their final production in 2026.
It was clear that many of these crops showed symptoms of BYDV last fall.
So the big question becomes: Will these varieties succeed in providing acceptable yields despite showing signs of infection in the early growth stages?
Spring barley
Meanwhile, this week will see spring barley growers finalizing disease control programmes.
Ramularia and net spot have the potential to significantly reduce final yield.
Timely spraying to ensure the disease does not spread to crops is the only way to ensure this does not happen.
Turning to potatoes, Phelan confirmed this lesion It has already become a problem this season.
“The disease has been identified in some second early crops,” he said.
“Given this level of challenge, it is important that growers adhere to a regular spray program, alternating fungicide chemistries to reduce the risk of pest resistance.”
According to the agronomist in Teagasc, the threat posed by blight is still very real.
“Tegasc research has confirmed the increasing range of disease variants circulating here in Ireland.
“This is a European-wide challenge,” Phelan explained.
