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Agriland
2 days ago
- Agriland
Opinion: As Harvest 2025 ends, it's time to plan for the future
Harvest 2025 is fast coming to an end, and the coming weeks will see tillage farmers across Ireland commit to the 2025/26 planting season. Given the success of crops such as winter oilseed rape and winter wheat, there is an expectation that the cropping area may well increase during the year ahead. And, no doubt, the first implement coming out of sheds to help make this happen will be the plough. As Irish tillage looks to the future, one within which the use of herbicides will be strictly limited, it is obvious that ploughing will – once more – become centre stage from a soil cultivation perspective. Consider the facts: herbicide-resistant weeds are gaining a foothold in all our crops. And given current trends, their numbers look set to increase exponentially. Take the threat of blackgrass as a case in point. Over the years, the weed has developed an almost total resistance to selective herbicides. Blackgrass Some of the cereal crops grown in England this year contained up to 400 blackgrass plants per square metre. Infestations of this magnitude can reduce final grain yields by up to 3t/ha. The only way to minimise the impact of the weed on infected farms is through a combination of cultivation techniques and rotational crop changes. From a cultivation point of view, the use of min-till or zero-till systems do nothing at all to help the situation. In fact, they probably facilitate the further growth in blackgrass numbers. Ploughing, on the other hand, acts like a re-set button. By burying blackgrass seeds to depths below which they cannot germinate, genuine control of the weed is achieved. Unfortunately, we here on the island of Ireland are not immune from the blackgrass problem. Herbicide-resistant populations of the weed are fast becoming a challenge for arable farmers on this side of the Irish Sea. And other resistant weeds are also making their presence felt on local farms, including Italian ryegrass, bromes, and canary grass. Many people are happy to decry the plough. They point to the costs involved and the perceived damage to the soil biome caused by ploughing. Neither of these arguments hold up. The reality is that ploughing will consistently add to the yields achieved from all cereal crops. In other words, it will always pay for itself. Moreover, the most recent research indicates that a soil's biome and physical structure will be fully re-constituted six months after ploughing has taken place. So, here's the reality: taking the plough out of Irish agriculture is a bit like trying to play hurling without a sliotar.
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- The Irish Sun
At least 26 dead and a dozen missing after boat capsizes near Italian island
Five ships, two aircraft and a helicopter were deployed in the ongoing search for more survivors BOAT HORROR At least 26 dead and a dozen missing after boat capsizes near Italian island AT least 26 people are dead and a dozen missing after a packed migrant boat capsized off Italy's Lampedusa island. Sixty survivors were pulled from the water and taken to a Lampedusa reception centre, with four rushed to hospital, according to the Italian Red Cross and UN agencies. 3 Italian Coast Guard officers and members of the Italian Finance Police carry a body bag on the dock after a migrant shipwreck on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa Credit: Reuters 3 Migrant survivors stand on the dock after Wednesday's shipwreck Credit: Reuters 3 Coffins lie next to a vehicle on the dock after a migrant shipwreck on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa Credit: Reuters The disaster struck early Wednesday when an Italian law enforcement aircraft spotted the overturned vessel and bodies in the water around 14 miles from Lampedusa. Rescue crews are still scouring the waters with five ships, two aircraft and a helicopter in a race against time to find the missing. Officials warn the death toll - currently at 26 - is expected to rise as hopes fade for those unaccounted for. The coastguard said the death toll remains 'provisional and being updated.' Survivor accounts suggest between 92 and 97 people were on board when the boat departed Libya. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the group originally set off on two vessels from the Tripoli area. When one began taking on water, all passengers were crammed into a fibreglass boat which later capsized in international waters due to overloading. 'It is not immediately known how long the migrants had been at sea,' Lampedusa mayor Filippo Mannino said, adding the tragedy happened 'presumably at dawn.' Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has made tackling illegal immigration a key priority, vowed to keep fighting 'unscrupulous traffickers' by 'preventing irregular departures' and 'managing migration flows.' She said: 'When a tragedy like this occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us. Huge wildfires spread across Brit tourist hotspots with hotels evacuated 'by the minute' as holidaymakers flee resorts 'That today's tragedy occurred despite a ready and operational international response warns us that the necessary rescue effort is not sufficient and, above all, does not address the root causes of this tragic problem.' So far this year, 675 migrants have died making the perilous central Mediterranean crossing — not including the latest sinking. In the past decade, almost 24,500 people have died or gone missing on the route, the IOM says. The sinking is the latest in a string of deadly tragedies on the central Mediterranean route, one of the world's most perilous migration corridors. Most boats depart from Libya or Tunisia, often crammed far beyond capacity and with little chance of surviving rough seas. The deadliest shipwreck off Lampedusa happened on October 3 2013, when a boat carrying over 500 migrants from Eritrea, Somalia and Ghana caught fire and capsized, killing at least 368 people. The tragedy prompted international calls for action to address the crisis. The latest sinking comes a day after UK government figures showed more than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel from France since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister. More to follow... For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at TheSunUS and follow us on X at @TheUSSun
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- Irish Examiner
At least 20 migrants die in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa island, UN says
At least 20 people have died after a migrant boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, a United Nations agency and local media reported on Wednesday. Rescuers have recovered 20 bodies so far and operations were continuing, according to initial reports by Ansa news agency. Between 70 and 80 people were believed to have survived. Filippo Ungaro, from the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, expressed "deep anguish" over the disaster and said more migrants could still be missing at sea. "Twenty bodies have been recovered and the same number are missing," he wrote on his account on social media platform X. The Italian interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters Read More Man, 20s, who died in Killarney swimming accident named locally
