Anyone going to Harper Adams University?

SorenIlsoe · Oct 31, 2014

Would have liked to join the meeting as it sound very interesting:
http://www.soilandwater.org.uk/event-1770797
Is anybody going there? And will it be possible to receive som information or papers from the day?
Soren

Richard III · Oct 31, 2014

Hi Soren,
Both Simon and I are going, I am sure we could post any information there is over to you if you like. It has coincided with a BASE trip to Frederic Thomas's farm, so there are perhaps less No Tiller's going than you might normally expect.
Richard.

SilliamWhale · Oct 31, 2014

Not going myself.

I'm not sure is not it the same day as Nuffield conference which will soak up a few as well.

Clive · Oct 31, 2014

I would have gone along to that but registration seems closed - HA isn't far from me really

marco · Oct 31, 2014

Clive said:
I would have gone along to that but registration seems closed - HA isn't far from me really

Thought you were going to France?

Richard III · Oct 31, 2014

Clive said:
I would have gone along to that but registration seems closed - HA isn't far from me really

From the registration I can see 69 people booked in, so it's hardly packed out.

Clive · Oct 31, 2014

marco said:
Thought you were going to France?

no had to cancel that as flying to Transylvania the next day and couldn't get back in time for my flight

SorenIlsoe · Oct 31, 2014

Richard III said:
Hi Soren,
Both Simon and I are going, I am sure we could post any information there is over to you if you like. It has coincided with a BASE trip to Frederic Thomas's farm, so there are perhaps less No Tiller's going than you might normally expect.
Richard.

Thank you Richard! I will apreciate that very much.
Soren

Wheatland · Oct 31, 2014

Clive said:
I would have gone along to that but registration seems closed - HA isn't far from me really

There's phone numbers at the bottom. Might be worth a call if you want to go. I think there were 120 spaces so it seems odd to shut the doors with 69.

Jim Bullock · Nov 1, 2014

Richard III said:
Hi Soren,
Both Simon and I are going, I am sure we could post any information there is over to you if you like. It has coincided with a BASE trip to Frederic Thomas's farm, so there are perhaps less No Tiller's going than you might normally expect.
Richard.

Richard/Simon...although I am now seen as Judas amongst the no-till fraternity for having ploughed 50 acres this Autumn (although we have still direct drilled over 90% of our wheat/beans

) I hope you will question the techniques used on some of the trials at Harper...I was very nearly thrown out of a meeting for suggesting that a Vaderstad Rapid was not a direct drill but a cultivator drill and that I could give them the results of their trials before they even started.. (Plough..top yield and probably best margin..Min-till second best yield but high establishment costs so lower margin than Plough or direct-drill...Direct-drill lowest yield but higher margin than Min-till due to lower input costs)..
I will report back from Frederic's meeting if you promise to report back from the Harper meeting

Baling Hay · Nov 1, 2014

Jim Bullock said:
Richard/Simon...although I am now seen as Judas amongst the no-till fraternity for having ploughed 50 acres this Autumn (although we have still direct drilled over 90% of our wheat/beans ) I hope you will question the techniques used on some of the trials at Harper...I was very nearly thrown out of a meeting for suggesting that a Vaderstad Rapid was not a direct drill but a cultivator drill and that I could give them the results of their trials before they even started.. (Plough..top yield and probably best margin..Min-till second best yield but high establishment costs so lower margin than Plough or direct-drill...Direct-drill lowest yield but higher margin than Min-till due to lower input costs)..
I will report back from Frederic's meeting if you promise to report back from the Harper meeting

Interesting that you think plough will be highest yielding and highest profit!!

dontknowanything · Nov 1, 2014

Steakeater said:
Interesting that you think plough will be highest yielding and highest profit!!

Whatever has the highest yield will almost certainly be most profitable. Something which is occasionally overlooked in these parts IMO.

Jim Bullock · Nov 1, 2014

Steakeater said:
Interesting that you think plough will be highest yielding and highest profit!!

The plough usually comes out on top in short term trials. Often only by a few ££'s /ha. Usually the cultivation inputs are based on contractors prices and we all know that if you go down the No-Till route a tractor will be on the farm for 15 years rather five (well ours have been!) so a contractors cost or any other standard costing is not really worth the paper it is written on when doing these comparisons.

SilliamWhale · Nov 2, 2014

dontknowanything said:
Whatever has the highest yield will almost certainly be most profitable. Something which is occasionally overlooked in these parts IMO.

Do you think so? I think a good yield is important. But I don't see a relationship between no till and low yields now.

Baling Hay · Nov 2, 2014

SilliamWhale said:
Do you think so? I think a good yield is important. But I don't see a relationship between no till and low yields now.

I also thought @Clive 's yields had gone up?? Of course this may be just weather related though.

SilliamWhale · Nov 2, 2014

Steakeater said:
I also thought @Clive 's yields had gone up?? Of course this may be just weather related though.

I've also had better yields and more consistent yields generally. But there could be various factors.

I've also had a few mistakes. Best think to do is decide what you want to do and perfect your art. Follow your gut feeling and your interest and you'll probably do ok.

Richard III · Nov 2, 2014

Jim Bullock said:
I was very nearly thrown out of a meeting for suggesting that a Vaderstad Rapid was not a direct drill but a cultivator drill and that I could give them the results of their trials before they even started.. (Plough..top yield and probably best margin..Min-till second best yield but high establishment costs so lower margin than Plough or direct-drill...Direct-drill lowest yield but higher margin than Min-till due to lower input costs)..

I think your spot on with this Jim. Short terms trial generally prove that the technique that mines the most O.M. give the highest yield. Long term trials get more interesting......

Jim Bullock said:
I will report back from Frederic's meeting if you promise to report back from the Harper meeting

It's a deal.

SilliamWhale · Nov 2, 2014

I wonder what research they think is needed?

As time goes on I'm scratching my head as to what research I'd value. I think the only area that is really interesting to me now is herbicide synergy and using herbicides in a proper uld way to maximise their benefits throughout the rotation most effectively and possibly reduce their use/impact. But I fear I'm going to have to experiment on this alone on the farm.

Any research on measurables like Carbon sequestration or erosion control wouldn't be of much interest. Possibly water infiltration could be a good project. I hope they don't overdo the CTF stuff because its a bit of a sideshow really.

I can't go but can someone let us know if we are allowed to feed into the process with ideas for projects or comments?

martian · Nov 2, 2014

I'd agree with all that, but add variety/crop choice in to the mix, as no-till seems to suit some better than others...

dontknowanything · Nov 2, 2014

SilliamWhale said:
Do you think so? I think a good yield is important. But I don't see a relationship between no till and low yields now.

You're reading too much into what I said.

However, all the trials I've seen here put yields highest from ploughed treatments

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