A Novice and his Aitchison Grassfarmer.

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
We don't use a combi, so its not relevant.

I've never needed to buy a new plough as there's always good secondhand available, last one was 3.5 k .
We're Maize and veg , and Fodder beet growers so that power harrows we have get used for that as well , as do the rolls , plus pushing down the odd stone in a grass field before cutting.
Last one I bought was 1500 iirc

rolls were about 2000 , long time ago now tho .

Just keep my eyes open for something clean and not used a lot , never know when something will come along.

By that reasoning, the cost of @le bon paysan ‘s erth shouldn’t matter either then, as he will likely be using it on grass anyway.
His 9k euro drill, split 4 or 5 ways, combined with lower fuel costs, make this DD lark look far cheaper than your plough based system.🤐🤣

I once bought a 3m Moore drill for £3k. Now just imagine how cheap it would have been if I’d shared it with a neighbour, as he suggested…
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
By that reasoning, the cost of @le bon paysan ‘s erth shouldn’t matter either then, as he will likely be using it on grass anyway.
1.That shows the point im making, that i dont have need to invent work or buy machinery for a reason that doesnt figure.,and the bigger tractor to pull/handle it.
2. grass 'aeration' is a waste of diesal .
His 9k euro drill, split 4 or 5 ways, combined with lower fuel costs, make this DD lark look far cheaper than your plough based system.🤐🤣
how in real life can finding/spending hard earned or even borrowd money like that 9k or more here be better business sense than 600 quids worth of diesal extra per year?
I once bought a 3m Moore drill for £3k. Now just imagine how cheap it would have been if I’d shared it with a neighbour, as he suggested…
would've been fun apportioning the replacement wearing parts costs but anyway why didnt you do it then ?
 

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
1.That shows the point im making, that i dont have need to invent work or buy machinery for a reason that doesnt figure.,and the bigger tractor to pull/handle it.
2. grass 'aeration' is a waste of diesal .

how in real life can finding/spending hard earned or even borrowd money like that 9k or more here be better business sense than 600 quids worth of diesal extra per year?

would've been fun apportioning the replacement wearing parts costs but anyway why didnt you do it then ?
Apportioning cost is easy.
We keep a book, the drill has an accurate meter, write down what we've done with meter readings, sign it.
Total cost of replacement parts divided with total Hectares done ( since last facture) gives cost per Hc.
Timesed by Hc. each owner has done.
Simples!
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Erth, sub-soiled grass.
Permanent pasture see the difference . Post#266

Grass ley...post#408 Big difference
yes the aeriation/oxidisation that it does allows mineralisation of nitrogen rapidly ,well more rapidly than if it were left to its own devices, there's nothing added that wasn't there already, but it will use what's there quicker, so that you will have to more to replace it to keep on that plain.

aerators spikers etc,dont actually add to overall production.
 

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
yes the aeriation/oxidisation that it does allows mineralisation of nitrogen rapidly ,well more rapidly than if it were left to its own devices, there's nothing added that wasnt there already, but it will use whats there quicker, so that you will have to more to keplace it to keep on that plain
Just look at the difference in the ley!
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Apportioning cost is easy.
We keep a book, the drill has an accurate meter, write down what we've done with meter readings, sign it.
Total cost of replacement parts divided with total Hectares done ( since last facture) gives cost per Hc.
Timesed by Hc. each owner has done.
Simples!
its not simple finding those to do it with in the first place ,not anyway.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Just look at the difference in the ley!
yes at the time looks, not overall production. it wont alter overall production thats dependent on what fertility is there . roots and living things growing add oxygen, naturally. driving over with a tractor and implement.does the opposite in the long term.

machinery salesmen over fertiliser salesmen i guess...
 

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
yes at the time looks, not overall production. it wont alter overall production thats dependent on what fertility is there . roots and living things growing add oxygen, naturally. driving over with a tractor and implement.does the opposite in the long term.

machinery salesmen over fertiliser salesmen i guess...
In the bale and in my cows! Not a poor cut then burning off to nothing in 40+ degrees.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
yes the aeriation/oxidisation that it does allows mineralisation of nitrogen rapidly ,well more rapidly than if it were left to its own devices, there's nothing added that wasn't there already, but it will use what's there quicker, so that you will have to more to replace it to keep on that plain.

aerators spikers etc,dont actually add to overall production.

As I recall Aber Uni did a ton of work and quantfied the real benefits of aerating various types of grassland in actual tonnes/ac of grass over several years.

Whether your theory carries any weight, I will leave to proper researchers with hard data! ;)
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
and If those Aber. researchers were correct how come every farmer in the land hasn't got one,? those that i know who have tried them as a contract and or demo haven't bought ,those have bought them don't use them, somesome of can be found for sale 'good condition no much use'Thats in practice not theory .
Some bought them with grants same old same old it seems, something going cheap appeals to a greedy or consumeristic nature i guess, or maybe 'hes got one so i want one like little children do.':sneaky:
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
and If those Aber. researchers were correct how come every farmer in the land hasn't got one,? those that i know who have tried them as a contract and or demo haven't bought ,those have bought them don't use them, somesome of can be found for sale 'good condition no much use'Thats in practice not theory .
Some bought them with grants same old same old it seems, something going cheap appeals to a greedy or consumeristic nature i guess, or maybe 'hes got one so i want one like little children do.':sneaky:

Still use mine actually....

Not annually, but where I have seen surface poaching after stock have been on a field over winter.

I have never quantified it's use accurately in general usage, BUT, I have done a farmers trial and aerated a strip of land and then baled the area later, and done the same with an un-aerated area and found the aerated showed more bales in a run than un-aerated. 10% was easily seen...

On grazing land, the difference in aerated can be readily seen in the spring, possibly from mineralisation of N... but is that such a bad thing?? I will be interested to have a play with the new herbal leys next year...
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
alright then oxidisation of organic matter.

i mineralise n and organic matter whatever the whole shooting match when i plough, after that i just leave it all alone.
i grow chicory clover lucerne cocksfoot tall fescue amoungst all the 'usual' things like prg and wc...tbh im more interested in that sort of thing than machinery and tractors these days ,

seems like direct drilling comes with a few other machinery 'additions' as well to do other things :unsure:
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Straw rake that's another, wtf ,dearest bit of machinery to waste money on I've ever seen.

saves on those disgusting slug pellets tho i guess..:unsure:
 

Wigeon

Member
Arable Farmer
Putting a spot of manganese on some atchison direct drilled wheat today, after linseed. Quite pleased with it over all.

20211117_110255.jpg
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Well.... another Summer is drawing to a close, and just had the Aitchison out to stitch in some clovers, plantains and chicory into an old PP that is a bit sad. Bought as straights.

The mix was quite interesting as the herb seeds bulked and slowed the seedmix through the drill rollers, and I did not need to mix mix rice in after a test calibration, as the seed was moving nicely. Experience has shown that with ultra low seed rates, wind the rate down a full turn after calibrating, as the vibration will push the actual rates up a tad. Now to wait for some rain. :)

Ground was hard even after the recent showers and I pondered weights, but in the end, the tines were in 5mm which was plenty.

Autumn drilling coming up and some stiff old clays to go at this time, and based on my experiences, the discs might just come out for a tickle, although I found some tractor weights hung off the frame helped a lot.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I did look at treating myself to a new, wider 2.7m machine but on hearing the price when I was at Groundswell, decided I can manage with what I have got. :sneaky:

When I get asked to drill a 20ha field, I may think again, although fitting a cheap...ish Autosteer on the tractor makes the job more tolerable... :)
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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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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