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Whats not to like?
Harvest, light cultivation whilst planting cover crop, spray off in December/ January, direct drill as soon as conditions are right in the spring. Massive reduction in fixed costs, cash flow is as easy as it gets, no pressure on the sprayer, seasonal labour requirements are slashed. Plenty of time in the autumn to catch up with mole draining. Need a decent spring I know but it sounds attractive.
Don't bother. Unless we get some exceptionally cold weather it won't come on earI'm going to try some ww spring planted this time so will know this time next year
50:50 is the ultimate. 100% either way overloads it too much. Wheat can be grown cheaper than many think and beans are always fairly profitable for us. Our drilling takes a week in the autumn and a week in the spring at most. It’s a part time job!Low gross output is what’s not to like
What’s to like more is 40 - 50% spring cropping if you want to create the best fixed cost structure and grassweed strategy - this principle underlines how we are farming more so than notill / conservation ag
Not just a spring problem.Same old question though, what good spring breaks are there?
This and all of the problems above
TrueNot just a spring problem.
We had to do this once after rain started and we couldn't get winter cereals in... Probably some of the best gross margin crops we ever grew, yielded well and very low inputs.. But the weather was with us that spring... here in the west on fairly heavy ground in a spring that stays too cold and too wet until Mid April and then bakes dry for 6 weeks . Commit to spring drilling and there are no second chances.Whats not to like?
Harvest, light cultivation whilst planting cover crop, spray off in December/ January, direct drill as soon as conditions are right in the spring. Massive reduction in fixed costs, cash flow is as easy as it gets, no pressure on the sprayer, seasonal labour requirements are slashed. Plenty of time in the autumn to catch up with mole draining. Need a decent spring I know but it sounds attractive.
And it was always one's accountant who determined exactly how much of the farm should be planted and how much not.
I think overall returns from 100% spring cropping would be too erratic for me. There’s a very real danger of disaster years where nothing yields; 2 or 3 back to back also very possible and then you could end up in hot water. At least with winter cropping you are spreading risk and resources to a different time of year. The drilling window in spring is also very variable,easy some years and difficult the next. It would be very stressful in those difficult ones!
Whats not to like?
Harvest, light cultivation whilst planting cover crop, spray off in December/ January, direct drill as soon as conditions are right in the spring. Massive reduction in fixed costs, cash flow is as easy as it gets, no pressure on the sprayer, seasonal labour requirements are slashed. Plenty of time in the autumn to catch up with mole draining. Need a decent spring I know but it sounds attractive.
...... where did it all go so wrong !