Just recently purchased a Horsch Avatar 6.16 SD. It will be mainly used on our own farm but a number of local farmers have shown interest in using it to drill their OSR and companion crop it with buckwheat, drilling both at the same time. Also, we demo'd it to stitch grass seed into existing ley...
For all those on the mailing list, Direct Driller Issue 3 was sent to digitally on the 20th June. It can be read here and you will see it has grown to 100 pages, which is where we expect it to stay going forward.
https://issuu.com/directdriller/docs/direct_driller_magazine_issue_3
All the...
Long story short, I’ve got a 750A on demo and would like to try direct drilling some wheat before It goes. Is it to early to start? Drilled plenty of covers with it and been impressed upto now but would like to try it in something where I can measure the end results.
We don’t normally start...
Just wondering people's opinions on these drills.
Are wearing parts extremely expensive?
Are they reliable?
What are they capable of drilling...IE (grass, osr, barley, mazie?
Have people had good results from these drills ?
I have seen one of these for sale locally and debating if it'll be a...
Hi, does anyone direct drill hybrid OSR with a vaderstad rapid 300s or similar gravity fed box drill. I was wondering how people manage the very low seed rate (2-3kg/ha). I have tried calibrating with 190 rotations not 19 to give a more measurable quantity, but the seed seems to run slower and...
Hi All,
This year has been the 3rd year of running our Soil Farmer of the Year competition, and we are ready for 3 fantastic walks with our top 3 farmers. These events are free, very practical, have minimal corporate waffling and are a chance for you to come along and dig a bit deeper into why...
CONTENTS ISSUE 1
Introductions - Meet the Team
Farming what needs to change
Plowman’s Folly
Secrets of their success in zero-till
Aqua-till
How to start drilling for £8k
Asda soil masters bursary
Start simple with cover crops
Could you run a farm scale trial in 2018...
Vaderstad
Vaderstad’s Carrier Working on Blackgrass Prone Farms
Vaderstad know that farms and farmers have to be flexible, that there is no one solution to suit all farms and therefore farmers need to find the system that works for them on their farm. Pure Direct Drilling just won’t work in...
Prime West
Cross-slot technology emerged in New Zealand around 30 years ago, and has evolved through intense university research in both New Zealand and the USA. It has been field proven in more than 17 countries.
In concept, the technology allows farmers to place seeds and fertiliser very...
Innovative Farmers Look for Alternatives to Glyphosate to Terminate Cover Crops
Anglia Farmers are running a new field lab through the Innovative Farmers network, investigating alternative ways to terminate cover crops.
Many farmers rely on the chemical herbicide glyphosate to destroy unwanted...
Horsch, a Return to Direct Seeding
Originally written by Frédéric Thomas and published in TCS in August 2015
While this may be a surprise many, Michael Horsch is first and foremost a farmer, not a designer and manufacturer of agricultural machinery. The opening of East Germany after the fall...
Rapeseed With Pulses and the Management of Nitrogen
Originally written by Gilles Sauzet and published in TCS in March 2016
When we include pulses or beans in the cropping system, either as a main crop or companion crop, nitrogen management is at the heart of the strategy. Knowledge of the...
Getting Positive Results From A Cover Crop ‘Addiction’
Originally Printed in No-Till Farmer - USA By Julia Debes
Bill Buessing leaves no stone unturned as he seeds various cover-crop species to feed cattle, build up soils and fix nutrients for cash crops.
A self-described “cover crops...
Progressive Farmer - Alex Shutes
I’m Alex Shutes - @Shutesy on The Farming Forum, 28 years old, a graduate from Harper Adams University in 2012 and now a farm manager on a 200ha all arable farm in Essex.
We grow Oilseed Rape, Wheat, W Barley, S Barley and S Beans on a 7 year rotation but...
Could you run a farm scale trial in 2018?
We as farmers are constantly being told about trial results, but as they say, there is nothing like trying things yourself on your own farm. Many of you out there are indeed already doing this, but what we would like to see is people sharing these...
Start Simple With Cover Crops
Cover crops are becoming the new ‘in’ thing for arable farmers, and more are trying them out, often without really knowing what they are doing. Seed merchants are getting in on the act, and there’s an increasing amount of conflicting advice out there. Farmers want...
Asda Soil Masters Bursary Visit US Farms
Asda arranged and funded a ‘Soil Masters’ tour of a number of US farms which have been in the forefront of no-till techniques. The main part of the bursary project was to explore the feasibility of combining arable and beef farming using a combination of...
How To Start Drilling For £8K
Clive Bailye’s seed drill of choice is his 6m John Deere 750A , which has been used exclusively for 3-4 seasons. Last year, with an increased acreage, the founder and publisher of this Direct Driller magazine thought a second seed drill was necessary. Having just...
Aqua-Till Uses a Water Jet to Open The Groove
Originally written by Frédéric Thomas – and published in TCS Magazine in August 2013
Cutting with water Ultra High Pressure (UHP) technology is rapidly developing in the industrial world. We appreciate its ability to quickly and cleanly cut...