Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
ive seen it tried and fail by ALL that have tried it up here simple reason, climate
"Project fear" proven right....GOVERNMENT WASTES NO TIME IN SHUTTING DOWN UK FARMS!!!!
- Thread starter Bossfarmer
- Start date
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
exactly, give it a few years of cuts and wheat down at £100/t and most on here will change their tune
Wellytrack
Member
You may have been legally right to pay £3.4/hour but not morally right. That’s borderline slavery.
Danllan
Member
- Location
- Sir Gar / Carms
Short termism...
If it’s that bad for farming up their then re-wild it.
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
Because they havnt got a clue past bashing as much fert on as possible and relying on chemical.
A number of the big successful farmers locally have gone back to ploughs and combi drills. They grow potatoes, beet and maize , some for AD and some for big dairy farms. I don’t think they will be told how to farm or be that worried about a few pounds per acre of ELMS payments or BPS for that matter. Horses for courses and we still are largely free of black grass around here, mainly because we’ve kept ploughing.
@ ajd132 has just said he’s got lots of black grass, so his system might have cheaper establishment costs, but much greater chemical costs.
Plenty of regular ploughed around here with far more blackgrass than me. The chemical costs used to be high but with rotation changes they have come right down.
we used to plough and it made zero difference, it’s all rotation and not relying on chemicals now.
we cannot grow potatoes here and for me maize and beet can make too much of a mess. 8t/ha of spring barley with 100kgs of N £30/ha worth of fungicides and no herbicides makes a pretty good margin.
- Location
- Chipping Norton
I find that herbicide costs decline after a few years of no-till. Its the only system which shows genuine declines in grass weed pressure. Sure some others come back at you (cranesbill) but that can be controlled.
The only winter crops growing locally this year, have been ploughed and combi drilled . We have OSR, Rye, wheat and barley drilled, with the last three crops all after maize or potatoes. Neighbours bought a Claydon, worked well last year apart from the tons of stones it dragged up, but nothing drilled with it this year is growing unfortunately .
I am genuinely interested in zero till but we struggled to get it to work here in the past (2000 onwards) it might of been the seasons but in the last year we did it osr yielded 3/4 t acre more on the sub drilled land (same field and treated the same) i just couldn’t ignore the extra margin
What difference would it make if it is a small part of their turnover ? if its all their profit they are fecked
I have to say in the 5 years we’ve been trying things out there is a massive amount more knowledge out there now if you are willing to find it. I think people are becoming genuinely concerned that the chemical treadmill is coming to an end and we need look at it differently. Ag bill or not
- Location
- somerset
on u tube, there is an American rancher doing just that, greg judy, farming normally went bust, now buying farms, there is a lot to interest, and teach us, its the cheapest way I've seen farming done, ok, its a different country, but the basic points are interesting.
- Location
- Limousin, France
Last edited:
Greythundercloudys
Member
I think farmers will have to convert back to the horse because no one can afford the fuel or buy a new tractor when the ones they have now are done. Surly you would get a payment from the government for that move.
- Location
- somerset
here in the UK the plough is still king, and we have never taken to dd or min til, in a big way. But theres plenty of countries that have made it work, with all different types of soil, and cropping, so, why can't we ? I will admit to like ploughing, but over the last few years, we have 'played' with alternatives, the results are impressive, although we are dairy, and have only grown maize, w/c, reseeding grass is easy, we will move this way now, plough has a place, but not for every crop, every year, if its to be the future, start now, and try it.
Just facing the reality of what we have Infront of us. Escalating costs, our rapidly diminishing chemical arsenal, future nitrogen regulations, climate change, net zero, lack and cost of staff, bps going, the list is pretty big!
- Location
- Limousin, France
The Aitchison was €9500 delivered and bought between 5 of us.Own 80 Hc, This works for me. Does all cerals and grass
