Winter Barley 2021

When are ye planning on sowing, I was told after October 10th, weather doesn't look great after Tuesday, seed ordered by not in yet, I hope we dont get an October like last year!
I’m waiting till October is on the calendar anyway. Target would be mid October but might go a few days earlier. Weather will dictate.....
 
I saw barley being planted this day last week 18th Sept. I wouldn’t chance that, I would be hoping to hold till around that date in October. Conditions were fantastic but it could be a big crop by time we hit hard weather in December.
 
I'm gonna chance some this weekend, things look more unsettled next week.
I prefer early October, but it's not far off and the weather dictates as usual!
Things can deteriorate quickly up here unlike you men down in the balmy tropics!
 
I'm only spraying off the last of the wb land tomorrow and I have no intention of even looking at the mf30 until at least one week into Oct. It was on the pop of Nov last year when I sowed the wb.
 
Nothing sprayed off here yet but a good few around us have barley in and some back as far as the 18th.
It must be nearly up now. Last time I had a very advanced crop of wb going into the winter it looked like silage and looks wise looked great but was rotten with mildew. I intend to make a start ploughing towards the end of next week weather allowing and maybe sow a week after that or even later if the weather doesn't look to bad.
 
It must be nearly up now. Last time I had a very advanced crop of wb going into the winter it looked like silage and looks wise looked great but was rotten with mildew. I intend to make a start ploughing towards the end of next week weather allowing and maybe sow a week after that or even later if the weather doesn't look to bad.
Well up I believe, it would be direct drilled after cover crop but I know no more than that. I know everyone is feeling a bit sore after last year but no 2 years are the same either, we'll burn off our bit tomorrow because unfortunately theres nearly a full crop coming in the stubbles again. See what the 10th of october brings then
 
It must be nearly up now. Last time I had a very advanced crop of wb going into the winter it looked like silage and looks wise looked great but was rotten with mildew. I intend to make a start ploughing towards the end of next week weather allowing and maybe sow a week after that or even later if the weather doesn't look to bad.
Give it a graze with sheep, real mixed farming. Gets rid of disease and organic fertilizer in the one go:Thumbp2:
 
Sheep are the best things ever on a tillage farm,
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if some other poor fool owns and minds them.
After dairying they have given this best returns by far on irish farms this year I would think. Like any other enterprise if they are done right there's very little work with them
 
I see a good 50% of winter ground around this area was sown around here since Wednesday, I don’t know if it’s panic with the thought of bad weather or if I when I went to college I should have gone to gmit and mountbellew instead of WIT and kildalton to learn about sowing dates :lol:
 
I only applied lime the other day too, wouldn’t mind it washing through the profile a bit first, hard frost out there this morning, that should help the bydv situation ?
 
After dairying they have given this best returns by far on irish farms this year I would think. Like any other enterprise if they are done right there's very little work with them
National statistics would not support your thoughts on either point, but as it says in the old sayings, "if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life" and “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
I had sheep for 30 years, all the generations here had sheep, they can leave OK money now and again, but every penny is hard earned.
 
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We've serious stones here, l want and need to get in reasonably for rolling..
The planned 4 tonnes to the acre might've bother standing up! :rolleyes2:
 
National statistics would not support your thoughts on either point, but as it says in the old sayings, "if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life" and “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
I had sheep for 30 years, all the generations here had sheep, they can leave OK money now and again, but every penny is hard earned.
This year they have left a nice few pound, other years not so good, for us theyve done better than beef and tillage this year.
If you have proper fenced paddocks, handling unit and a good dog they are easy managed by one man at all times.
Cattle need a few people to handle safely and very hard to work a tillage farm without some hired help at times
 
National statistics would not support your thoughts on either point, but as it says in the old sayings, "if you love your job you'll never work a day in your life" and “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
I had sheep for 30 years, all the generations here had sheep, they can leave OK money now and again, but every penny is hard earned.
I like that second saying, I hadn't heard it before
 
This year they have left a nice few pound, other years not so good, for us theyve done better than beef and tillage this year.
If you have proper fenced paddocks, handling unit and a good dog they are easy managed by one man at all times.
Cattle need a few people to handle safely and very hard to work a tillage farm without some hired help at times
Doctors differ, I always found lambing on my own bad for my health, to give lambing ewes due care and attention I would have found they need to minded 20hrs a day. I know a few sheep farmers that don't go to bed for the duration of lambing and know no good sheep farmer that is over weight. Managing a large flock of sheep properly is tough work. As you say it can be made easier, but it is still heavy physical work. I very much doubt I would be able to get out of bed the day after a day shearing or dagging anymore. I don't mean to run down shepherding or make out it doesn't pay, I set up my farm on the back of money I made out of sheep, and they were way less valuable then, but ever penny I earned was hard earned.
I have great respect for anyone running a true fixed farm, it is the best way to farm, but I think both red tape and commodity prices have made it very difficult.
 
As of today nearly all winter barley this side of the west is sown, this is my first year at winter corn and I thought I’d only have 40 acres in total but I’m now going to have 40 acres of barley alone along with another 45 of oats and wheat, As the father has decided not to let sheep near one block of land. It might not seem like much to many here but when you have a long list for hedge cutting, slurry and the odd bit of baling still it’s a fair task to manage, going to start the WB now on Monday, plough and straight in with one pass, all land recieved 9 tonne of FYM to the acre this week also
 
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