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- Ceredigion
Not the two local ones my mates have boughtOnly because your Government went and bought one for everyone!
Not the two local ones my mates have boughtOnly because your Government went and bought one for everyone!
It will be going direct into uncultivated ground though, and is the route I would like to go in future.
Any reason for not liking the rows in grass? Did you find it didn't tiller out?
That would be my thoughts too. I had a customer on the phone today considering sowing a herbal ley next week.Getting to late here ,it's been like a November day today, soil temp dropping fast
Trash clearance I think is the reasonYes there must be an issue with going close with tine drills or those NZ manufacturers would have gone that way years ago surely?
A month too late!That would be my thoughts too. I had a customer on the phone today considering sowing a herbal ley next week.
Too late?
That would be my thoughts tooA month too late!
I'm looking for a low disturbance DD, so probably not enough tilth to broadcast over the tines. (see pic)could you not just fit a slug pelleter too the back and broadcast over the tines?
What do you think about broadcasting a dip onto uncultivated land? as in a broadcaster on top of the drill as per @Mc115reed's suggestion.One think I learnt from dad many years ago that even with Italian Ryegrass that's not great for tillering was to include a few kgs of late diploid that would fill the bottom and suppress weeds
I've drilled with a rapid directly into stubble before with good success, however havent been able to follow the crop throughout the year to see how it performed. Do you cultivate beforehand or go in direct?I know I’m very unfashionable but I’ve been drilling grass with vaderstad drills for over 20 years. it’s a disc not a tine so the depth control is very good, 125 mm spacing is not a problem. Drilling a field twice must be tedious so I have never tried, I’m not sure I would see a benefit.
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I just find that on my ground I never get the sward thick enough in the bottom when it's been drilled in the past. I think this is then exaggerated when putting a lot of tetraploids in which don't generally tiller like a diploid would.
I like a bit of ground cover to reduce stones being flicked into the swath (we have a lot of small cotswold brash), carry livestock better and reduce the amount of bare soil on show reducing the weed burden and lowering the ability for the ground to dry out sooner in the summer.
You have to have soil contact whatever you do ,so depends what you mean by uncultivated, if you do a good job of removing growth after you have sprayed ,then if you can get some soil by tine harrowing then in good growing conditions broadcasting will work ,, you can't broadcast behind a disc drill , biggest part of the seed won't fall in the slot and won't grow end of , , I drilled 40 acres Into silage ground last week , I could have broadcast on that easy enough , It had one pass with a tine harrow first set agresivly, only issue now is I will get more weed competition as I have opened the surface up more than if I had drilled straight in.I'm looking for a low disturbance DD, so probably not enough tilth to broadcast over the tines. (see pic)
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What do you think about broadcasting a dip onto uncultivated land? as in a broadcaster on top of the drill as per @Mc115reed's suggestion.
I've drilled with a rapid directly into stubble before with good success, however havent been able to follow the crop throughout the year to see how it performed. Do you cultivate beforehand or go in direct?
That's my worry too, especially as we have quite a lot of livestock on in a wet time, its nice to have a well structured top couple of inches.
You have to have soil contact whatever you do ,so depends what you mean by uncultivated, if you do a good job of removing growth after you have sprayed ,then if you can get some soil by tine harrowing then in good growing conditions broadcasting will work ,, you can't broadcast behind a disc drill , biggest part of the seed won't fall in the slot and won't grow end of , , I drilled 40 acres Into silage ground last week , I could have broadcast on that easy enough , It had one pass with a tine harrow first set agresivly, only issue now is I will get more weed competition as I have opened the surface up more than if I had drilled straight in.
I get no problems getting a good cover of grass with the disc drill , grass cover depends on verities of grass more than anything else , we are a wettish livestock farm so need a good cover as well ,
You would be better going for a disc drill in your situation if you want low desturbance , just cross drill it if you want it a bit narrower spacing , I can't see you wanting to go to the expense of buying a close spaced disc drill , unless you go out contracting to cover the cost, you can't get a drill to suit all conditions, a Tyne drill has a wider window but won't drill as close if that's important to , sometimes you have to make the condition s suit the drill or just don't drill until conditions are right
The one here is a 9.5 disc , I would think a Tyne would be better for cereals and row witdth no important, I was told when we bought the drill that most in Ireland go for the 12.5 and hardly any cross drill on grass , but like I said its about choosing the right grass for the job in hand , if you want strong cover then late diploids and not to much TetraploidVery clear post - and certainly along the lines I was thinking. I'm finding a lot of weeds chitting (especially docks) whenever I do any sort of deeper cultivation, so I'm keen to avoid that. Some disturbance will be fine, and I agree that whilst a disc drill would be ideal, I think a tine would be very useful for any cereals in this part of the world.
I'm leaning towards 12.5cm spacing on 3 rows I can always add more if needed.
No point spending on reseeding and letting weeds destroy it that's for sureStop letting broad leaved weeds drive your decision making. They are nearly an irrelevance. The spray is £10-15 an acre. Compare that to the cost of the seed and the loss of production they can cause. You need to be spraying all new leys. It is that simple.
No point spending on reseeding and letting weeds destroy it that's for sure
Expecting chickweed to be a problem in some I've recently sown , I used Minstrel last time , what you think , no clover in that ley
Thanks and yes the time I see weeds being hit far to lateMinstrel will sort the chickweed and seedling docks (and docks from roots if used stiff enough) but it will not touch all species of weeds. You can broaden it by adding combined 2,4D and MCPA type products, i.e headland polo, pasture master etc. You probably won't need to use full rates of either product. Check products are approved for new leys first as well.
However you establish a new ley will invite weeds into it, that is what they are designed to do. I wouldn't let them put me off using any particular method. It is weed grasses that are a bigger concern because they are a far bigger problem.
It would be worth speaking to our Technical Manager - Stuart Aldworth. email [email protected]Hello, I've also posted this in Direct drilling but thought it would be very applicable here too.
I am building a new tine drill, I've got a design in mind but I'm quite undecided on what row spacing to go for.
This drill will be predominantly doing grass work, with a mixture of some wholecrop cereals.
I have looked at as much research as possible but haven't found anything conclusive as to what the best row spacing is for grass. All studies tend to see what is better for the larger spacings, e.g. 10cm, 20cm, 30cm; and they all unanimously agree that the narrow spacing provides the best results with the least weeds in grass.
I would like to build the drill with a 12.5cm spacing, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with going narrower on grass, and if it is of any advantage? I'm trying to avoid double/cross drilling where possible.
At the moment all of our grass is broadcast, so haven't got much experience of grass drilling.
Thank you.
Never sprayed a new leyStop letting broad leaved weeds drive your decision making. They are nearly an irrelevance. The spray is £10-15 an acre. Compare that to the cost of the seed and the loss of production they can cause. You need to be spraying all new leys. It is that simple.
Me neither, value the clover too much. If much weed appears give it 2 or 3 weeks then mow and bale it. Grows back lovely and clean and saves the cost of the spray.Never sprayed a new ley
Spray off old stuff with roundup
Subsoiler through it
Dynadrive over it
Flat roll with built in seeder on it
Soon as it’s grazeable get cows over it or better still heifers/calves on it
Weeds all grazed of