THE HIGHEST national yield in more than 20 years has been recorded in winter and spring barley and the spring oats crop, Teagasc has reported.
Provisional figures in the agriculture and food development authority’s autumn harvest report said grain quality was excellent at average to low moistures.
It estimated total grain production in the State at 2.4 million tonnes, but said increased growing costs and land rental costs would balance out the grain sale benefits for most growers.
“In general, harvest conditions were good but there is still an estimated 500 hectares to be cut in Donegal and some western areas,” the report stated.
The area of winter cereals in 2011 was: 34,400 hectares of barley; 74,700 hectares of wheat; and 8,700 hectares of oats. It said sales and conditions suggested a similar or slightly higher area will be drilled this autumn.
Potato production fell by 14 per cent this year according to an Irish Farmers Association report. It said the area sown to potatoes was down by almost 3,500 acres to 26,869 acres.
An Bord Bia estimated the overall production of potatoes this year at 375,774 tonnes, largely in line with total demand.
However, Donegal potato growers have said up to 85 per cent of the potato crop has still to be harvested. Normally farmers would have saved 70 per cent of their crop at this time of year but high rainfall levels have prevented machinery access to fields.
The two-week slurry-spreading extension, given by the EU due to poor weather, has been of little use, according to farmers. The extension, which ran until yesterday, was hit by further poor weather which meant it was too wet to spread slurry in most areas.
Farmers are forbidden to spread slurry in the winter months due to run-off pollution worries.