Looks like I’ve got no black grass this year.

Green oak

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
Brilliant first year for like ever. Nothing in stale seed beds. And nothing since Drilling. I love this weed free farming. Like the good old days.
 

Green oak

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
Oh you have seen some. i haven’t yet. Hopefully the pre ems will sort the flush out. Hopefully just want to get some wheat in the ground. Fingers crossed.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Oh you have seen some. i haven’t yet. Hopefully the pre ems will sort the flush out. Hopefully just want to get some wheat in the ground. Fingers crossed.
What cultivation’s have you done? Do you really think you’re getting somewhere or are you expecting a big flush when it rains
 

Farmer_Joe

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
The North
a farmer in east yorkshire was kind enough to let my 6 year old son on the combine this year (my mum lives that way and asked him the day before)

he explained all about black grass and dodged a spot on the combine, i was roughly aware of what it looks like but it appeared to be literally like timothy but with black seed heads when mature, obviously he said it it went though the combine it would be all over the next year...
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Fingers crossed for current low levels, but from our greenhouse samples I fear dormant seeds and a later than normal flush.
With more spring cropping we have definitely changed the dynamic of the weed.
Instead of a massive flush through September and October we now get more staggered emergence right through the year.
We’ve had huge problems in the past due to poor rotations and relying on chemical, we now try to keep it at a manageable level through many different techniques. I don’t care if there’s a bit in the crop, I think you would struggle to find many fields in this whole wider area that don’t have it growing in them
 

T Hectares

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Berkshire
I’m definitely turning the corner going into the 6th year of measures to tackle BG, the bad areas get better year on year although it took 3 years to see pressure drop noticeably and the last 3 have seen a pretty much clean farm
As I’ve seen before, an early pass gets it growing and I’ve seen this again on some new land this autumn, this was sprayed on September 26th after a Terrano pass mid August before rain, going into SB…
B15C116C-AD1B-45B9-A8BA-54C8C3456B44.jpeg
17DE6CDB-84DE-4ADE-A426-BF4B93734723.jpeg
 
With more spring cropping we have definitely changed the dynamic of the weed.
Instead of a massive flush through September and October we now get more staggered emergence right through the year.
We’ve had huge problems in the past due to poor rotations and relying on chemical, we now try to keep it at a manageable level through many different techniques. I don’t care if there’s a bit in the crop, I think you would struggle to find many fields in this whole wider area that don’t have it growing in them
How does staggering the emergence help? It takes away any useful chemical control.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
With more spring cropping we have definitely changed the dynamic of the weed.
Instead of a massive flush through September and October we now get more staggered emergence right through the year.

We’ve had huge problems in the past due to poor rotations and relying on chemical, we now try to keep it at a manageable level through many different techniques. I don’t care if there’s a bit in the crop, I think you would struggle to find many fields in this whole wider area that don’t have it growing in them

Are you sure? Blackgrass has always germinated through the Autumn and Spring periods in the forty years I have been involved with the plant. Could it be that with your management over the past few years reducing the overall seedbank it is now that you are seeing (or perceiving as a proportion of the seedbank left) less blackgrass in Autumn but similar amount Spring germinating such that you are perceiving a change in population dynamics. I must ask John Cussans his view when next at a meeting where I can ask the question. And in practice does it matter?
 
If you have a population of blackgrass that is beyond hand roguing levels, you really must get out there the second the combine has passed and do something to scratch up the dirt. Then run the cambridge rolls over it to give that soil to seed contact.

If you are getting levels outlined in the photo above I would consider tilling it, rolling it and then leaving it and doing do goes of roundup before planting a spring crop. Get expert at getting the stuff to grow.
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Are you sure? Blackgrass has always germinated through the Autumn and Spring periods in the forty years I have been involved with the plant. Could it be that with your management over the past few years reducing the overall seedbank it is now that you are seeing (or perceiving as a proportion of the seedbank left) less blackgrass in Autumn but similar amount Spring germinating such that you are perceiving a change in population dynamics. I must ask John Cussans his view when next at a meeting where I can ask the question. And in practice does it matter?
You should read Ben Taylor Davies Nuffield on the stuff, it just adapts. Organic farmer nearby weed surfs and now it won’t grow above the crop
 

Neddy flanders

Member
BASE UK Member
If you have a population of blackgrass that is beyond hand roguing levels, you really must get out there the second the combine has passed and do something to scratch up the dirt. Then run the cambridge rolls over it to give that soil to seed contact.

If you are getting levels outlined in the photo above I would consider tilling it, rolling it and then leaving it and doing do goes of roundup before planting a spring crop. Get expert at getting the stuff to grow.
tried that. BG just germinates when the drill goes in the spring. worst bg this year is after spring oats. :banghead:
 

Flintstone

Member
Location
Berkshire
I was out slug pelleting some wheat yesterday. It was drilled/rolled/sprayed six days ago. There was a huge flush of BG, despite a flush also before drilling which I sprayed out.

Looking at the wheat, it had chitted, but was easily five days from emerging.

Yeah, I did it…..

I’ll let you know if I have a crop of wheat in that field at the end of next week!!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

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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