AB9 mid tier winter bird food (cheap ideas)

[Flat 10]

Sorry to go off topic, can AB9 options be placed against watercourses?
Also, it says plots must be a minimum of 0.4 ha in size, if I have two fields against each other with a watercourse inbetween and AB9 options either side of ditch, does that count as 1 plot or 2?

Yes and 2 I think

 

[B'o'B]

Yes and 2 I think

Definitely 2 plots.

 

[yellow belly]

When they inspect they need seed purchase details
home saved need seed details of seed used to grow the seed
take pictures of seed in drill and final game crops
no point in putting in any brassicas as the flea beetle will kill it
they do not like the crop to have too much cereal so do not overdo the barley
fat hen is also a good weed in the mix

 

[chaffcutter]

Neighbour of ours says that quinoa attracts small birds in huge numbers, is the seed very expensive to add some to a mix?

 

[Suffolk boy]

Neighbour of ours says that quinoa attracts small birds in huge numbers, is the seed very expensive to add some to a mix?

It appears expensive but it's a small seed with a low TGW so in a kilo you get a lot of seed and therefore the inclusion percentage can be quite low.

 

[yellow belly]

There are older varieties of wheat and barley that do not need fss royalties

 

[Lawless]

Can someone recommend me a good mix for this option (AB9) please and where to buy it from.
I don’t have access to any home saved seed so need something of the shelf -we have a small shoot so it does need to provide good cover as some plots will be stand alone drives.
Many thanks.

 

[willy]

Can someone recommend me a good mix for this option (AB9) please and where to buy it from.
I don’t have access to any home saved seed so need something of the shelf -we have a small shoot so it does need to provide good cover as some plots will be stand alone drives.
Many thanks.

i have found the kings moir mix good, but it’s quite expensive.

 

[Great In Grass]

Sorry to go off topic, can AB9 options be placed against watercourses?
Also, it says plots must be a minimum of 0.4 ha in size, if I have two fields against each other with a watercourse inbetween and AB9 options either side of ditch, does that count as 1 plot or 2?

Wouldn't you need a soil and water mixture (SW) sown against a watercourse?

 

[Great In Grass]

Can someone recommend me a good mix for this option (AB9) please and where to buy it from.
I don’t have access to any home saved seed so need something of the shelf -we have a small shoot so it does need to provide good cover as some plots will be stand alone drives.
Many thanks.

I have various AB9 options open a conversation and I will try to help the best I can.

 

[Pie face]

The guidance has changed in 2020 for AB9 so that more small seeds have to be included. I need to ring the DEFRA helpline to ask whether agreements that started say in 2019, like ours did, have to meet these new rules, or whether we can follow the ones in place we we signed up. The old rules allowed you to plant a mixture of spring wheat, spring barley and spring oats as an example, and you could use your own seed as long as you had evidence of what you'd done. It's easier with bought in mixtures as you have the receipt.

When we had an inspection the guy pulled us on a couple of things, he was showing me his guidance and I was confused as to how we had got it wrong. He left me a copy and it was only after he left I noticed he had been using updated guidance which explained our "error" I checked it with the NFU and they said it's the guidance from when you signed up that counts. Not heard anything back from RPA.

 

[ajd132]

i just feel that paying effectivley £2500 per tonne for seed is excessive, i am also a seed processor with BSPB and can easily sort out royalties.

i just think we need to be maximisng these schemes to our benefit and not just another supply company, maybe its not worth the hassle?

Not worth the hassle is about right. Once you’ve bought the see, drilled it, flailed it on some of them. What a load of grief.

 

[Feldspar]

When we had an inspection the guy pulled us on a couple of things, he was showing me his guidance and I was confused as to how we had got it wrong. He left me a copy and it was only after he left I noticed he had been using updated guidance which explained our "error" I checked it with the NFU and they said it's the guidance from when you signed up that counts. Not heard anything back from RPA.

Thanks, that's very useful to know.

 

[Brisel]

When we had an inspection the guy pulled us on a couple of things, he was showing me his guidance and I was confused as to how we had got it wrong. He left me a copy and it was only after he left I noticed he had been using updated guidance which explained our "error" I checked it with the NFU and they said it's the guidance from when you signed up that counts. Not heard anything back from RPA.

What had changed since your CS had started?

 

[Pie face]

One was to do with hedge sides having to have a parcel number each or you couldn't claim them. This meant that on a hedge against say a public road you could only claim the one side that was in a parcel number not the road side. The old guidance didn't mention this restriction.

 

[GeorgeK]

Under the current restrictions we are essential workers (food production). However the bird strips are not related to food production therefore non essential. Is it right for essential workers to use their position to carry out non essential work?
Ordering the seed takes a delivery slot away from someone who may need it more and puts the driver at risk. It's vehicles on the road and people travelling unnecessarily. It uses diesel and machinery that would be better saved for food production?
This is a real life global catastrophe, is planting some pigeon and rat food really that important when so much else has been shut down, you'd think Defra would have clarified this by now