The East CNC (Wexford) have all finished planting their spring crops, and most have received all their fertiliser in the seedbed in the form of mineral and chicken manure. So far, we have had 5 meetings in total this year, the latest discussing soil health and what to do in the event of compaction. Out of the 6 farmers, they are each looking at several tools including leaf and grain analysis, NDVI sensing, data recording software, and manure analysis.
The North CNC (Dublin) is looking at NDVI, data recording, nutrient analysis, different biostimulants available, and variable rate lime application.
The North Potato Group is focusing on in-depth soil analysis in a targeted area in the field, combining that with high-definition NDVI from a drone in the hope of looking at nutrients at a higher resolution.
The West CNC is looking at new technologies when it comes to using fertiliser. These include using liquid N and foliar N, P, and K. They are also looking at different seed treatments, NDVI, and in-depth analysis.
So far, manure analysis and soil analysis results have been returned to farmers. The results from their leaf analysis are still pending. All the farmers have finished completing the existing tool and tech evaluation worksheet, and the next focus will be on grain analysis, where each farmer will choose an optimum and sub-optimum area of a field of spring barley to sample.
As CNC facilitator, TEAGASC are currently putting together videos from each of the clubs on some of the existing technologies the clubs have been using.
