The Tillage Edge – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on The Tillage Edge podcast, we’re circling back to the National Tillage Conference from earlier this year and focusing on the trade-offs of establishment systems with Jack Jameson, as well as the growing problem of weeds, particularly poppies, with Charlotte Morgan.

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Correctly structured healthy soils will deliver better returns for farmers and on this week’s Tillage Edge, Dr Veronica Nyhan, a soil and plant nutrition specialist in Teagasc, joins the podcast to discuss why it is necessary to carry out regular soil assessments and how the results can be used to correct any deficits.

Veronica explains that a test dig can take about 20 minutes to complete and can reveal a wealth of information.  

The assessment itself is designed to be carried out by farmers with excellent instruction available both on video and using the Teagasc Soil Structure ABC guide at: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/environment/soil/The-soil-structure-ABC.-A-practical-guide-to-managing-soil-structure.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Organic tillage farming may seem out of reach to most conventional tillage farmers, however Gavin Tully, an organic tillage farmer in Wexford, is on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to explain how he has successfully negotiated some of the problems associated with the organic system. 

Gavin explains that he is a fan of cereal and protein mixes as it results in a well-balanced concentrate for his customers.

He also uses multiple ways to control annual weeds in crops to varying degrees of success.  But in the end he says establishing a good crop stand is the most helpful. 

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Ireland has a relatively small organic sector and the number of tillage farmers within this is smaller again, however there is now a sustained drive from the EU and the government to convert more farms to organic production and to grow this market.

Martin Bourke is a specialist tillage, organic advisor with Teagasc and he joins Michael Hennessy on the latest Tillage Edge podcast to discuss some of the pros and cons of converting to an organic, tillage farm.

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For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Winter cereal plantings are continuing apace this week, albeit growers are grabbing every chance they have through the bands of rain every 2-3 days.  

Last year BYDV was a problem on many farms, and not only farms with early sown crops, but later sown crops in the south of the country were also badly affected in places.  

It’s important to understand when crops are most at risk and the best strategies to deal with this threat and so Dr Louise McNamara, an entomologist from Oak Park, joins Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to discuss and advise on the threat posed by aphids this year.

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For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Continuing a series of interviews with tillage farmers who are involved with the various programmes in Teagasc, on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Michael Hennessy finds out more about the Enable Conservation Tillage Project which enables farmers to embrace non-plough based tillage systems whilst at the same time cope with grass weeds that can emerge.

Bill Shanahan, a farmer from Waterford, and his Teagasc ECT Project advisor, John Mahon, join Michael to discuss Bill’s experiences so far.

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In order to understand the aspects of podcasts which are most appealing and beneficial to you the listener, it would be appreciated if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete the following survey to give your feedback:  

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For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Following on from the Crops Forum which was held recently, on this week’s episode of the Tillage Edge podcast, you’ll hear from moderator Andy Doyle discussing the issue of fertiliser supply and costs with Kieran McEvoy from the IFA, Clive Carter from IGG, as well as Donal Maloney from Tirlán, Enda McDonald from Grassland Agro, Bill Callanan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Teagasc’s tillage specialist, Ciarán Collins.

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In order to understand the aspects of podcasts which are most appealing and beneficial to you the listener, it would be appreciated if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete the following survey to give your feedback:  

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For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

The Crops Forum was held recently with an excellent line up and a very interesting discussion from a panel of experts across the country.   

And on this week’s episode of the Tillage Edge podcast, you’ll hear from moderator Andy Doyle discussing the financial risks of the year ahead with Kieran McEvoy from the IFA, Clive Carter from IGG, as well as Donal Maloney from Tirlán, Enda McDonald from Grassland Agro, Bill Callanan from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Teagasc’s tillage specialist, Ciarán Collins.

Podcast Survey

In order to understand the aspects of podcasts which are most appealing and beneficial to you the listener, it would be appreciated if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete the following survey to give your feedback:  

https://forms.office.com/r/mDZTE9zPy4

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Application of pesticides is highly regulated but new rules are coming down the track which are being formulated by the EU at the moment and Anne Marie Dillon from the Department of Agriculture and the Marine joined Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to outline what is contained in these EU proposals.

The areas of concern include: increased recording at farm level, reductions of PPPs by 50%, changes on how advice can be given by advisors and prohibitions on applying pesticides in sensitive areas.  

Many of these proposals will have far reaching consequences for the industry but farmers and industry can have their say to feed into the process before the rules are signed off.  

You can click here to start the process: 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12413-Pesticides-sustainable-use-updated-EU-rules-_en

Podcast Survey

In order to understand the aspects of podcasts which are most appealing and beneficial to you the listener, it would be appreciated if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete the following survey to give your feedback:  

https://forms.office.com/r/mDZTE9zPy4

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com

Vincent Macken is a Tillage Signpost farmer in county Meath and along with his Teagasc advisor, Shane Kennedy, he joined Michael Hennessy on this week’s Tillage Edge podcast to discuss sustainable farming in practice.   

Vincent said he is developing practices on the farm such as increasing the number of crops in the rotation and focusing on healthy soils both of which are helping to reduce inputs whilst also maintaining profitability.

Shane Kennedy described some of the practices that Vincent uses on his farm including a farm trial where insecticide use is critically evaluated in terms of BYDV control. 

Podcast Survey

In order to understand the aspects of the Tillage Edge podcast which are most appealing and beneficial to you, it would be great if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete the following survey:

https://forms.office.com/r/mDZTE9zPy4

 
For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/crops/the-tillage-edge-podcast/

Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com