Broadcasting turnips

Eileanach

Member
I want to sow a small area of turnips with a Vicon wag tail spreader. Is it best to mix with fertilizer? Will the turnip seed get carried as far as the fertilizer or will I have missed strips/ banding.
 

JockCroft

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
JanDeGrootLand
Yes. I use one for mixed Brassicas (Kale Turnip and Stubble Turnip). Fairly good results. Not blank areas. Fill fert slowly and add seed as its flowing. Stop flow now and again and stir. I use a broom handle. I know it sounds stupid but I find it works, Half rate and half bout width, so covering ground twice. Roll before spreading, I tow a narrow set of light zig zag harrows (3 leaf) upside down. This year I am going to roll twice, with direction of sowing and across. Think last year with it being so dry was a bit thinner than I would have liked, but the 6 acres fed 140 ewes for 6 weeks.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Yes. I use one for mixed Brassicas (Kale Turnip and Stubble Turnip). Fairly good results. Not blank areas. Fill fert slowly and add seed as its flowing. Stop flow now and again and stir. I use a broom handle. I know it sounds stupid but I find it works, Half rate and half bout width, so covering ground twice. Roll before spreading, I tow a narrow set of light zig zag harrows (3 leaf) upside down. This year I am going to roll twice, with direction of sowing and across. Think last year with it being so dry was a bit thinner than I would have liked, but the 6 acres fed 140 ewes for 6 weeks.
rolling before sowing is a good call, then, ... if you don't mind me saying, ...you would be ok to use the (light) zig zag harrows in their correct working up right position just to cover the seed a bit . then roll once will be ok.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Or, if any decent rain is due, broadcast it on and walk away.👍

I put 25ac onto winter barley stubble with a slug pelleter last year, before a wet weekend. It came as well as any I’ve ever sown any other way, with nothing else going in the field apart from a fert spinner.
It does need rain though, but sometimes an opportunity to save time and money presents itself.
 
Last edited:

JockCroft

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
JanDeGrootLand
rolling before sowing is a good call, then, ... if you don't mind me saying, ...you would be ok to use the (light) zig zag harrows in their correct working up right position just to cover the seed a bit . then roll once will be ok.
Take care not to bury a lot of the seed to deep. It may depend on what type of soil you are working on. That is why I put the harrows upside down, Did try it once with a timber 3 x2 trailed but it bounced too much. If I have time may try to rig a couple of dwang chains behind the harrow stretcher with out the harrows. Turnips and Swede's need a very fine but firm seed bed with seed covered but no more that 1 Centimeter deep. Or so the seed catalogue says. Good luck take your time and it should do fine.
 

ajcc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Just put 1.2 tonne of 20:10;10 on 8 acres mixed into disc spreader with 25 kg of kale seeds. Cambridge rolled before then skewed rolling twice after.

Week before put in 6 acres of turnips and rape through electro broadcaster with 75 kg of lamb creep pellets mixed with 20 kg seeds. Again ring rolled before and after.
 

JockCroft

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
JanDeGrootLand
So best to keep equal amounts of fertilizer and seed?
Think you will struggle to get spreading rate low enough on wagtail with equal amounts, and seeds flow so much faster than fertiliser so much faster flow ratio. Work out how much fert and how much seed for an acre, measure it into spreader and remember to mix. Mark out roughly an acre and try it. Remember to work on half width (i.e. cover the ground twice) and dont stop on that acre until spreader empty. If it helps I spread 100kg (2 old fashioned cwt.) and 5kg of mixed brassica's per acre. Spreader adjusted so that the 3 openings just let my index finger through to first knuckle. Easiest set if hopper is off, Take note of setting lever. You will probably have to open or close a little. then forward speed about 5mph. Be aware that flow rates vari quite a lot with different fertilisers. Would have put a picture on but way too wet for ground work up here.
 
Last edited:

Chris123

Member
Location
Shropshire
Just put 1.2 tonne of 20:10;10 on 8 acres mixed into disc spreader with 25 kg of kale seeds. Cambridge rolled before then skewed rolling twice after.

Week before put in 6 acres of turnips and rape through electro broadcaster with 75 kg of lamb creep pellets mixed with 20 kg seeds. Again ring rolled before and after.
Why would you put 75kg of lamb creep on may as well of put 75kg of fert on at least the crop would use it.
 

wr.

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Breconshire
This was just burnt off, twice over with discs and sown with slug pelleter. I normally roll after sowing but weather didn't allow rolling on this field.

P1030827.JPG


Same with this

P1060874.JPG
 

Pushdyke

Member
Thinking back quite a few years, we used a vicon spreader to sow stubble turnips
We always used blanking plates to cover two of the three openings in the spreader
These were flat thin metal plates the same shape as the fixed holes in the bottom of the spreader
Only put the seed in the hopper never mixed it with any thing.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
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/
Top