Availability of Bydv Tolerant Crops is a Game Changer Agronomist
He explained; 'Up to now, winter barley has been the most variable of cereal crops grown in Ireland.
"But the availability of BYDV-tolerant crops is a game changer. It means that winter barleys can be planted with a strong degree of confidence very early in the season.
'And if this is scheduled directly after a break crop, take-all is also removed from the equation. The end result from taking this should be exceptionally high grain yields.'
While Dunne recognises the traditional role of planting a first wheat after the likes of oilseed rape, he said BYDV tolerance is opening up other opportunities.
'The impact of BYDV tolerance is such that winter barley now comes into the reckoning as a crop preference that can deliver tremendous levels of performance,' he said.
'So the option of going in with winter barley directly after a break crop is a very real one.
'And the same came be said for winter rye in terms of that crop's potential to perform extremely well under Irish conditions.'
Reflecting on harvest 2025 up to this point, the Gold Crop agronomist confirmed that winter barley is now in the rear view mirror with growers moving on to winter oat crops.
He also highlighted the sustainably higher yields that Irish tillage farmers can secure relative to their counterparts in the UK.
And the winter barley harvest of 2025 has borne this point out extremely well - Irish crops averaged 3.7t/ac with the equivalent figure for many parts of England coming in at around 2.8t/ac.
Dunne also pointed to the issue of moisture contents as worthy of consideration, where harvest 2025 is concerned.
He explained: 'A yield of 4.0/ac at 15% moisture is equivalent to almost 4.25t/ac at 20% moisture.
'This quick calculation adds further significance to the yield performance of barley crops so far this year.'
Turning to specific varieties, the agronomist confirmed the high performance levels achieved by Integral on many farms in 2024/25.
'This is a six-row hybrid with BYDV tolerance. Grain and straw yields have been equally promising this year.
'I scrutinise many new winter barley varieties on an annual basis.
At the moment, approximately half of these have BYDV tolerance. However, in the very near future this figure will rise to 100%,' Dunne added.
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