Should I grow barley, maize or other

adriant900

I am talking to a neighbour about renting some of his land from him, if I go for it I will put it into grass in a couple of years but do not have the animals for it next year so was thinking of growing a crop for one year and am currently researching the costs and potential profit from this (if any)

Anyone got any links to good information on the economics of this?

Pros and Cons of growing barley or maize on it?

FYI I will need to get a contractor to do a lot of the work, also the fields are currently in 'grass' but really they are not being farmed and are just weeds.

Birdnuts

Tillage lads I know from home seem to think that Spring Barley is the crop to go with next year

K.G.

Alot depends on what you can sell and when do you need the grass again.withe barley there should be plenty time to reseed after harvest whereas with maize it's unlikely you ll get it reseed next autumn.also maize likes slurry and lots of it whereas barley will grow fine without it.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119787828#Comment_119787828

If sowing oats in March, when would you harvest?

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789131#Comment_119789131

Should all be cleared by the middle of August. Definitely time to reseed.

tabby aspreme

Spring oat's would be a later ripening crop than barley, some years it may not be fit to harvest till late August

adriant900

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786152#Comment_119786152

Good points and worth considering. There will be no rush getting the grass established, it can get slurry if necessary. I imagine there will be demand for either, if I grow maize the contractor can organise the sale of it and if I grow barley the local co-ops would buy it at market rates.

Main question is which is more likely to be profitable and which carries more risk?

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789867#Comment_119789867

Can you sell the barley / oats to a farmer as feed stuff or does it need processing first

tabby aspreme

You would likely need a way of drying grain if selling direct to a farmer, another option would be to grow wheat or barley and sell it for wholecrop harvesting, it would be cut in July then, but this would need to be organised before sowing

jaymla627

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789867#Comment_119789867

Maize is going locally for 90 plus euro a ton delivered, if you can grow a 18 ton plus crop, you'll make money at the above money, but the costs of growing it are touching nearly a 1000 euro a acre when plastic/fertilizer/ and all contracting costs are included add rent on top and your needing a huge wedge of money to cashflow growing it

Mooooo

If weather goes against you the field will be a state getting maize out of it. Barley or wheat prob the safer bets, gives more options getting it off as well with wholecrop, let whoever buys it sort the contractor for harvest

alps

Would you consider doing something that would add to the fertility and soil condition rater than stripping it of more nutrients....setting it up for your years ahead as a grazing farm?

https://youtu.be/mqQU1Ox4FDc

Good loser

Ley ground - as yours is - is generally/often sown to wheat.

jimmy G M

Where abouts are you located and is the ground free draining. Is there much tillage locally and what crops are grown?

adriant900

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119802378#Comment_119802378

Cork, ya free draining, mostly dairy around here, of the tillage, there is barley and maize grown so either is possible and both have a market. Which is most likely to have a positive return is what I am wondering and pros and cons of both.

The land in question has been lieing idle for the last few years with just weeds growing, I wonder how that will effect yields? Would getting a 3tonne of barley yield be completely out of the question given it has not been farmed therefore unlikely to have top fertility?

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119811939#Comment_119811939

If its resting like that its probably a good thing for soil fertility

adriant900

What do you think of the following costings / acre for spring barley?

Materials:

Seed €43, Fertiliser €280, Lime €23, Spray €73

Contractors:

Ploughing €55, Power Harrow €55, Rolling €13, Planting €50, Spraying €19, Fertiliser €24, Lime €15, Harvesting €62, Straw Baling €30

Total cost per acre: €742 before rent.