Spring barley has been and will continue to be a valuable tool for farmers, the numerous reasons for growing spring barley are well documented which I won’t go into now. However, you’ve got to this point its now important to make it profitable for your business.
Choosing the right variety
Work backwards when choosing a variety, think of its end use. Spring barley has multiple end-uses, over in the West it’s mostly like to be for feed either sold off farm or kept in-house. If you are more based over in the East options for selling your grain into the malting market open up.
My best advice is to read through our Spring Seed brochure and contact the Seed Department to find the best variety for you
The benefit of seed treatments
While all of our spring barley seed comes treated with Rancona I-Mix as standard offering great protection against soil-borne diseases including loose smut, leaf stripe, seedling blight and foot rot it is important to consider additional treatments in certain circumstances. Vibrance Duo aids root development and health proving especially beneficial on the light ground prone to drought. Kick-off is a plethora of micronutrients designed to give the seedling the best start.
Seedbeds & Timing
A successful spring barley crop is very reliant on the establishment. Ploughing is common over in the West where spring barley is following a root or maize crop. When ploughing is must be worked well to ensure it’s not left cloddy. If a lower disturbance method is preferred, ensure good seed-to-soil contact. Seed rates will be determined largely by the sowing date with some consideration for seedbed quality.
Agronomy advice
Grass weed control with products Avadex, Liberator/Crystal being the main tools in your armoury. Grass weeds become almost impossible to control early on so the focus switches on to broad-leaf weeds such as charlock and bindweed. These can be relatively well controlled by fluroxpyr-based herbicides without any major side effects on the crop.
Fungicide applications should be tailored to each crop but normally a T2 application is certain whereas T1 and T3 can be dependent on season, location, and crop potential.
As with any crop but especially barley keeping it standing is vitally important to be able to achieve high yields and ease of harvest. The best advice is to choose the best variety for straw strength, for example, Planet. Then speak to your agronomist but the most effective PGR applications are applied later in the season.
Fertiliser applications
Typical applications for nitrogen are 150 to 160kg/ha for an 8t/ha crop. Timings usually are split if the weather allows. The first application is usually at sowing or emergence to give the crop a supply through the early stages. The remaining application goes on at mid-tillering ready for the crops rapid up-take of nitrogen. Spring barley will require applications of potash and sulphur depending on soil indices.
Spring Seeds 2023
The Spring Seeds 2023 guide includes information and advice on the latest spring cereals seed varieties, as well as informative articles on key topic areas for the coming season.
