A Novice and his Aitchison Grassfarmer.

rhifsaith

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Location
Tregaron
Excellent work (y) Drilled when? Depth??


The rain last night came too late to save my mixtures and covers, so I've been re-drilling the past 2 days, a bit shallower than before. However, my gut instinct is that the earlier drilling with teh Aitchison would have been fine with rainfall...

Very obvious the difference in the drill performance of the baker boots where there is a drop of moisture in the soil... Nice job today.
Thanks,end of April. Damn you’re being too technical now.about 2” :LOL:
I’ve been carrying water with a 2300 gallon tanker and rain gunning it as I could.its had 80 units of n in the last 3 weeks in 2 separate applications. It germinated early May and just stalled then.thought I was going to lose the crop
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Thanks,end of April. Damn you’re being too technical now.about 2” :LOL:
I’ve been carrying water with a 2300 gallon tanker and rain gunning it as I could.its had 80 units of n in the last 3 weeks in 2 separate applications. It germinated early May and just stalled then.thought I was going to lose the crop
Looks like the watering paid off and kept the seedlings going.
 

windymiller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
mid wales
Here's what I planted two weeks ago today, job to see the rows from the pics, but you can see the green tinge to the field, and I don't mean where I missed with the sprayer.:oops:
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This was it beginning last week.
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And this is where I emptied the drill in the field next door.
20200613_121427.jpg
20200613_115906.jpg
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
What were you drilling, you have not X-drilled it then..?

I had a pootle through one VERY heavily grazed paddock today, as I finished off the WB and Game mix. Heavily brassica orientated seed mix now, so I dragged a 100m of the mix into the paddock to have an experiment. Think it needed another 20mm depth really, but it'll be interesting to see what comes up and what the sheep make of it in 6 weeks time! :unsure:
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I am going to try a couple of ha of PRG and White clover, stitched into a very tired PP ley. It really struggled with the wet conditions last winter I suspect. Bare patches scattered about.

I have scratched seed in before, with differing rates of success, so this time, I'll try the new arrival and see what that does. Perfect conditions after the long hot, dry spell, now that we are seeing proper rainfall.

15-20mm too deep?? Intending just a single pass, then roll at 90 degrees.
 
I am going to try a couple of ha of PRG and White clover, stitched into a very tired PP ley. It really struggled with the wet conditions last winter I suspect. Bare patches scattered about.

I have scratched seed in before, with differing rates of success, so this time, I'll try the new arrival and see what that does. Perfect conditions after the long hot, dry spell, now that we are seeing proper rainfall.

15-20mm too deep?? Intending just a single pass, then roll at 90 degrees.
Edit: using a duncan - Aitchison following chains probably negate my strategy as everything gets covered?
Depth is a matter of conditions on the day. If the slots crumble then 20mm is too deep - if however there is moisture and enough root structure for there to be 'flaps' on top of the slot and the sides hold up then 50mm need not be too deep. @Tractor bob tells the tale of a chap in Scotland that swears by drilling turnips (?) at 3" or more deep.
I always like to wait for 24 hours before rolling (if you do) so that the flaps dry out and shrink a bit, so that when rolled down, the flaps dont meet and leave a gap hence leaving a slit for the seedlings to come out of. I think this strategy works well as it accentuates the 'chamber with a micro-climate' theory and gives very quick/ high rates of germination.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Edit: using a duncan - Aitchison following chains probably negate my strategy as everything gets covered?
Depth is a matter of conditions on the day. If the slots crumble then 20mm is too deep - if however there is moisture and enough root structure for there to be 'flaps' on top of the slot and the sides hold up then 50mm need not be too deep. @Tractor bob tells the tale of a chap in Scotland that swears by drilling turnips (?) at 3" or more deep.
I always like to wait for 24 hours before rolling (if you do) so that the flaps dry out and shrink a bit, so that when rolled down, the flaps dont meet and leave a gap hence leaving a slit for the seedlings to come out of. I think this strategy works well as it accentuates the 'chamber with a micro-climate' theory and gives very quick/ high rates of germination.

Thanks for the wise words.

I have not got the Chains fitted yet, as I have been waiting over 2 weeks for a order of stuff to arrive :mad: Hence a roll as part of the covering strategy. I did think if we had a couple of days rain after drilling it wont need much covering at all

After the rain we had over the weekend* and the showers since, I should have enough moisture in the ground. It's what made me decide to have a go now! (y) Heavyish soil, so the flaps were holding together when I ran the tines through some grass yesterday.




* same with you??
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Useful info that, thank you. I reckoned it was still dry enough at coulter depth to get some cover this time. (y)

Looking at the forecast, we might stay damp for long enough to see some emergence... :)

Grassland comes post 3rd cut...:oops:

Well, 6 weeks later, after 10-11 weeks of essentially bugger all rain, I can state without fear of contradiction, that seedlings do not like emerging, and then running out of moisture :-(

Grassland is being done after the 1st Cut!!! :rolleyes:
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
@steveR just out of interest, who did you buy your drill from?

Ross Simpson, the MD of Aitchison in NZ. Missed out the middle man I guess... I was pointed to him by an inmate on TFF! :)

Collected it from their storage facility near Driffield, a fortnight or so into Lockdown, a nice self isolated trip North on empty motorways and country roads .

Don't think he is bringing in much at the moment, mine was one of only 3 in the UK at the time, as I wanted a 2.7m really.... They have no official UK salesman I believe at present, which seems a shame as they still have a place as a lower cost alternative to the Simtech range.
 

windymiller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
mid wales
Ross Simpson, the MD of Aitchison in NZ. Missed out the middle man I guess... I was pointed to him by an inmate on TFF! :)

Collected it from their storage facility near Driffield, a fortnight or so into Lockdown, a nice self isolated trip North on empty motorways and country roads .

Don't think he is bringing in much at the moment, mine was one of only 3 in the UK at the time, as I wanted a 2.7m really.... They have no official UK salesman I believe at present, which seems a shame as they still have a place as a lower cost alternative to the Simtech range.

I was wondering, had a business card off them from lamma 19, but lost it, and their web site goes straight through to NZ.
They could do with something more official over here, they're a good simple, light weight drill. Shame they don't bring more of there range in, like the seedmatic, got slightly narrower row spacing for grass land.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I was wondering, had a business card off them from lamma 19, but lost it, and their web site goes straight through to NZ.
They could do with something more official over here, they're a good simple, light weight drill. Shame they don't bring more of there range in, like the seedmatic, got slightly narrower row spacing for grass land.

There was a 3m seedmatic there at the time, boy, what a heavy old beast! Did a neat trailed kit for it though.

They need to look at putting the depth wheels inboard on all Grassfarmer range I think, a 2.7m and 3m would be neat.
 

windymiller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
mid wales
There was a 3m seedmatic there at the time, boy, what a heavy old beast! Did a neat trailed kit for it though.

They need to look at putting the depth wheels inboard on all Grassfarmer range I think, a 2.7m and 3m would be neat.

I just drop the wheels out and place em between the a frame and the seed box on ours when I go down the road. A 3m seedmatic is a wide overall width, too wide for this area.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I just drop the wheels out and place em between the a frame and the seed box on ours when I go down the road. A 3m seedmatic is a wide overall width, too wide for this area.

Happily, the 2.1m machines is nice and narrow on the road which is about the only advanatge of the wee width !!

Said the same thing about the 3m machine when I saw it!! :rolleyes:
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I have been wanting to stitch some PRG and Clover into a rather tired PP for a while now, and after the Winter/Spring double whammy, I decided to bite the bullet this time. The original intention was to go for a late Summer timing after a second cut, however, this is all now up in the air after a dreadful and late, 1st cut...

So a couple of days ago, I decided that 60mm of rain was probably enough to germinate seeds and get them moving! :unsure: I ordered a patching mix, hoping to get it in yesterday, but sadly the seed did not arrive until this morning so although it was raining, I calibrated the drill @25kg/ha and set off in a lighter shower...

There is a bit of regrowth on the grass, but not an problem at all. I tweaked the depth down a bit after a pass, as I felt it was not quite enough depth, now about 20-25mm. A little smeary, but with the rain we are having, I felt it will not be an issue here. I am delighted at how little rubbish and material has been dragged out, the damp, mature sward holding it together well. 10kph about perfect as suggested here by other users. 12-13 easily done, but more rubbish in evidence on top at a higher speed.

Altogether, rather pleased, just have to see if there are any creepy crawlies about... Hoping June drilling might mitigate them a bit(y) Warm and damp seedbed should see a quick emergence, with luck....

Short video, Chrombook wont upload it, so will sort this ;later :)

 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
you go much faster than I do. about 3.6-3.9 mph I like going at.

Bigger, more open AND flatter? :)

One issue I do have, is that I calibrated the drill at 10kg/ac with the mixture, after running some seed through the 4 spouts for 60 odd turns to "prime" it, and did find that the drill was not putting enough on as went on.

Was told that my sort of speed should not be a problem...
 
As I see it part of the attraction of the boot type drill is that the seed is placed in the bottom of a chamber that is still in contact with unbroken soil and so any moisture in the ground will still reach the seed (capiliary action?) and because of the high relative humidity in the chamber (warm soil temp, moisture, lack of direct sunlight) you get a fast strike even in a dry time. In fact, I would argue that when competing against PP you might be better drilling when the conditions are challenging rather than just when youve had a good soak and the PP will be rejeuvenated and therefore be able to outcompete your seedlings.
How are you going to manage the sward now? Grazing or mowing? I wouldnt rate the chances of success as high if you are intending to mow it - PP needs keeping down and grazed rotationally/fast and hard to stop the stock (Sheep) selectively grazing and allowing the PP to swamp out the new grass. Not preaching but just seen it happen so many times - funny how often we get reports of brilliant germination and full lines of seed to then hear 12 months later about how the old grasses have taken over - so the drill gets blamed - nothing to do with how that rejeuvenated sward was managed. Hence we are very careful about which places we drill at now because you can tell fairly quickly whether the drilling will be a success before youve even visited the farm
 
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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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