autumn re-seeding

Derrick Hughes

Member
âś“
Location
Ceredigion
Looks good. Bit more info if possible... was it limed, what ph? Indices etc. Those rows look nicely filled in.
Was sprayed 5 days before cutting silage then left 4 weeks -weather was bad and waiting for new drill . By that time weeds were growing so sprayed again - 5 days later limed some had slag and drilled at 14 kg . 3cwt fertiliser broadcast with 2 kg of slug pellets per acre
I dont think there is any weed grasses as 2 acres we did not do is still bare, that got drilled last week , the daft thing is after everyone saying it was risky best put some rape or turnips I put rape in the next field and it failed - rape dont like constant rain and lying in water - would I drill into old pasture again- most definitely- but I would up the seed rate- maybe to 18 kg - you will get the odd thin patch but its no hassle just to go back in with the drill and top it up
Another thing I learnt was if you are stuck for time then spraying before you cut is 100 % better- waiting for it to grow back enough to spray after can lose you 3 weeks
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
I am seeing some of the fastest grass growth i've ever seen, i think. All the hot weather, warmed the soil, (killed some grass), now the rain, exactly what is needed. One field, cut 8th, baled thursday, 6ins growth. Lets hope the weather holds, lagoon out today, over 22 acres, sprayed before shite, should be able to get grass in !
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I am seeing some of the fastest grass growth i've ever seen, i think. All the hot weather, warmed the soil, (killed some grass), now the rain, exactly what is needed. One field, cut 8th, baled thursday, 6ins growth. Lets hope the weather holds, lagoon out today, over 22 acres, sprayed before shite, should be able to get grass in !
Just cut some grass that's got in front of the cows.
4 and half bales an acre cut high for good regrowth. Heavy bales too.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
âś“
Location
Ceredigion
Why away from ploughing?
I'm not Organic so I don't need to plough -if I was I may have a different view but thats without thinking of alternatives first - my main reason- brings up stones and weed seed -unless you plough very shallow it buries the fertility-its costly and time consuming- if you had a snooker table that needs a new cloth you replaced the cloth-not put a sledge hammer through the top
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
I'm not Organic so I don't need to plough -if I was I may have a different view but thats without thinking of alternatives first - my main reason- brings up stones and weed seed -unless you plough very shallow it buries the fertility-its costly and time consuming- if you had a snooker table that needs a new cloth you replaced the cloth-not put a sledge hammer through the top
well put. We, as farmers, seem to be firmly attached to ploughs, yet, we know the huge damage they can do, as well as the benefits. Many soils, on poorer land, are becoming 'sterile', to bring those, and to halt the decline, of more, we have to rebuild soil structure, continues ploughing often destroys it. On livestock farms, it's less obvious, but still kills worms, fungi and other 'goodies' present in the soil, all of which, can seriously help profit ! Ploughing isn't going to stop, at the right time, huge benefits can be had, turning in FYM etc. But, min-til, direct drilling, are the way forward, just because it's never really caught on, in the UK, doesn't mean it shouldn't. We are getting very good results, using tines, at whatever depth is needed, to get rid of any panning, it's not perfect, but you leave a lot of the worms etc, alive/active, which ploughing kills. We are seeing mushrooms, where we haven't for 20/30 years, or more. Modern d/drills are very good, at correct placement of seed, and make a lot simpler job of reseeding, and a lot cheaper too.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I'm not Organic so I don't need to plough -if I was I may have a different view but thats without thinking of alternatives first - my main reason- brings up stones and weed seed -unless you plough very shallow it buries the fertility-its costly and time consuming- if you had a snooker table that needs a new cloth you replaced the cloth-not put a sledge hammer through the top
Why do organic need to plough?

Your jumping to conclusions there.
Not good for a salesman IMHO!

We did a trial this year part field disced part ploughed.
No difference in yield.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
You wait till you have a massive failure with DD (it will happen)
Plough based reseeds still have their place I’m afraid.
Like I said , since the drought broke anything would grow.
Ground was warm, moisture was ideal, everything is lush.

Discing to break a turf is hard work and not riskless
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
You wait till you have a massive failure with DD (it will happen)
Plough based reseeds still have their place I’m afraid.
why should we have a massive failure, with dd ? We still get failures with conventional ! In many other countries dd works extremely well, and is the 'norm', soils, world wide, are not that different, climate is, and dd works well, in more arid conditions, you don't dry the soil out. I think, resistance, and i like ploughing, is because we are, traditionally mired to ploughing. You only have to think about the USA's dust bowl, Ethiopia and other parts of Africa, where ploughing has resulted in famine, or crops, simply don't grow, soil structure has gone.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
âś“
Location
Ceredigion
Like I said , since the drought broke anything would grow.
Ground was warm, moisture was ideal, everything is lush.

Discing to break a turf is hard work and not riskless
Like I said I'm not organic so have not put any thought into farming without a plough but this is my second option after direct drilling - can't see any reason on my all grass farm why I would ever need to plough
Two passes with my 40 year old disc combination. Depth 2 inches - this morning
20200915_081427.jpg
20200915_081250.jpg
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
âś“
Location
Ceredigion
With the removal of Dursban , dd grass seed into an old ley carries an element of risk from pests that ploughing can reduce. Ploughing also buries a lot of trash if necessary. I’m a big advocate of dd but Kev is right both have their place.
To many disadvantages with ploughing for me -like I said if I get a few thin patches just top it up - but i would just shallow disc otherwise.
I may be old fashion but the old guys would give me a slap for ploughing more than 3 inches so a shallow disc suits me fine- you can't find the staff to spend days picking stone either and I'm trying to get rid of weeds not plough them up
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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