Aitchinson drilling forage provider mix

[Valtra Man]

Never put this in with it before, it’s a mix of rape, turnips and short term grass. Is it better to do it twice or is once better to leave room between slots?
Also what’s the optimum depth?
The field isn’t the most level so hoping to go a little deeper and leave the slots open but wondering if it would be better to do twice as it may catch more hollows but was a bit concerned about too much seed in the same place stunting growth..

 

[hendrebc]

Ill be putting a similar mix in soon and i was planning on only going over once. But ive never done it before either so i could well be wrong
@Kevtherev

 

[neilo]

I DD'ed similar into barley stubble last year and went over twice at diagonals (truth be told I made a b*lls up of the calibration, so had to put the other half of the seed on anyway). I've only done it once over this year, apart from a bit where I was emptying the last bit out of the drill. The brassicas will make use of the space between the rows and the grass won't be there long enough to worry about weed ingression, or not long enough to justify the extra cost/work of the second time over.

 

[Valtra Man]

That’s great, once it is then. Thank you.

 

[ploughman1963]

I would suggest that unless there is a lot of moisture or going into old sward, any slots you create on the first pass will be collapsed on the second pass and bury the seed

 

[Muck Spreader]

Depending on what you are drilling into I would only do one pass. A second may rip the turf/top up, getting trash under the legs and blocking them.

 

[Valtra Man]

It’s going into old sward burnt off.

 

[joe soapy]

open slots are bad with slugs and bad if it turns dry again.
a light chain harrow behind drill if worried

 

[90hp farming]

agree with all above. twice over will look like you have dragged it. That is undoing the `T` slot principle of the Aitcheson.

ps. with a `T boot` drill it always looks to be drilled deeper than it is. I should make sure you are deep enough such that all the coulters are in work.

 

[Valtra Man]

agree with all above. twice over will look like you have dragged it. That is undoing the `T` slot principle of the Aitcheson.

ps. with a `T boot` drill it always looks to be drilled deeper than it is. I should make sure you are deep enough such that all the coulters are in work.

When you say Coulter’s in work I’ve always set the discs so they are a fair bit deeper than the T boot, so in theory they chop any surrounding roots hopefully stunting growth but mainly in the hope it would cut a slot to soften the ground directly beneath the new seed so it can drop it’s root easier. Had both very decent and disappointing results on grass but mainly down to weather and post management really.
What’s the optimum depth for the bottom of the T or what is the max a turnip or rape seed would push up from?

 

[Peppa pig]

Same mix as your talking about in op.
1st pic sown with a guttler greenmaster.
2nd pic sown with a slot seeder.
Same day same farm both into sprayed off grassland.

 

[Valtra Man]

Wow what a difference. The grass in the slots seems to be ok but that’s so strange with the lack of rape and turnips. I thought theyd be away much faster than the grass in the slots. When was it done?

 

[Peppa pig]

Wow what a difference. The grass in the slots seems to be ok but that’s so strange with the lack of rape and turnips. I thought theyd be away much faster than the grass in the slots. When was it done?

30th july.only thing i can add it was just at the time of first rain after the drought so mybe went too deep into powdery soil.the guttler stuff was sown onto damp surface

 

[Valtra Man]

30th july.only thing i can add it was just at the time of first rain after the drought so mybe went too deep into powdery soil.the guttler stuff was sown onto damp surface

That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting that. How long ago were the photos taken?
I put 4-5yr and clover in on the 29th and had the downpour straight after. Put more in on the 30th but that is only now getting going properly as there wasn’t enough rain here for a while after.
The grass on the 29th got away well though...

 

[Peppa pig]

View attachment 705554

That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting that. How long ago were the photos taken?
I put 4-5yr and clover in on the 29th and had the downpour straight after. Put more in on the 30th but that is only now getting going properly as there wasn’t enough rain here for a while after.
The grass on the 29th got away well though...

Pics were taken this morning.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

What's the mix .rape will kill grass if its much more than half a pound acre won't it

 

[Valtra Man]

Pics were taken this morning.

That’s really disappointing with the drilling then. You’d think it would have kicked on with all the rain lately. It’s a bit of an experiment for me so this now makes it even more interesting for myself. The pic of my grass slots were from Saturday, I’m quite pleased with the germination.

 

[Valtra Man]

What's the mix .rape will kill grass if its much more than half a pound acre won't it

It’s 1.5kg but to be honest I’m putting a little more grass seed with it. That was my main reason about asking about drilling two ways. I thought there would be more grass cover to graze in the spring as the short terms don’t tiller with the drill.

Mix:
https://www.wynnstayonline.co.uk/wynnstay-forage-provider-seed.html

 

[Peppa pig]

That’s really disappointing with the drilling then. You’d think it would have kicked on with all the rain lately. It’s a bit of an experiment for me so this now makes it even more interesting for myself. The pic of my grass slots were from Saturday, I’m quite pleased with the germination.

The duncan-aitchison seem to get good results most of the time.they seem to keep a more consistent depth than slot seeders and gravity fed seed will make a huge diffrence of seed placement compared to air when rape-turnip seed etc will be like a ping pong ball when they hit the ground.
This is only my thoughts on this subject.

 

[Dyffryn]

We have a good crop of forage/italian ryegrass mix. Its waist high in some areas. Thinking of baleing it. Is it a good idea?
Its been drilled with a Aitchison