Can't make it work

[mikep]

Slugs are very hit and miss this year by the sound of it. We had no problems at all not said smugly but with surprise.
After the season we had I expected wall to wall slugs so I pelleted low dose as the crops were cleared but the pellets just lay there not eaten and very few corpses. After drilling I kept a nervous eye but nothing it seemed they had all gone. Finding a few grazed plants now but nothing to worry about. Reading other comments we seem to be lucky, not doing anything different or clever must be local weather.

 

[Clive]

been a very low pressure slug year here despite it being quite wet at times, I'm surprised to hear that @Feldspar has had big pressure given I thought it had been very dry in the east ?

we pelleted WW after OSR at drilling and the OSR has been done twice (at drilling and again 10 days later) , unusually we had to apply pellets after peaola this year at emergence

think we might have overreacted on some fields but better that way than to be redialling a crop !

 

[Dan Powell]

I think dropping OSR while switching over to no till may be the answer. Can bring it back in at 1 in 5 or 6 once up and running. Certainly we have far more problems where we have it.

 

[JCfarmer]

I couldn't agree more, the less osr grown the better.

 

[Flat 10]

. Also, the worse the spring barley crop was, the better the emergence..

Due to more moisture in the soil and therefore better tilth/seed to soil contact or what?

 

[Feldspar]

Due to more moisture in the soil and therefore better tilth/seed to soil contact or what?

Less residue on the surface to get in the way of the disc resulting in better seeding depth and better seed to soil contact. Rooks found it much easier to pull beans out in slots filled with residue.

 

[Brisel]

I couldn't agree more, the less osr grown the better.

I think I see where you're coming from there

 

[TelesnaAg]

The current rotation and suggested rotation...seems like a major rethink needs to be done here if youre creating an enviroment for slugs....not being familiar with your dirt and area...4 grasses in a row sounds like it will just create another problem.

Seding method may help mitigate risk or affect of slugs but fact remains you still have a slug issue...

Just my take....

Ant....

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

A good thread read. What system did you end up with @Rob Holmes ??

 

[ollie989898]

We get slugs around here in seasons where it is wetter, I would agree OSR is a big big risk factor for them but I still saw slugs in crops where none was ever grown.

I have ever sympathy for you guys trying to claydon direct into lots of residue, around here of course all straw was baled and taken away. The biggest trouble we had with the claydon was how well it closes the row. Often ended up with uneven or patchy emergence because the tines created a lumpy seed bed and seed had a job to push through it. Granted this would probably have improved in time using DD as the soil improved itself.

If I had a chance to do it all again, I would have persevered with DD probably wheat, barley and spring beans and put composted muck on after drilling. Then rolled with a roller equipped with paddles?

 

[rs1]

@Feldspar Has your slug pellet use reduced since using the Terrastar?

where did you end up after this post? Is there anything you did that improved things?
Fairly sure you still have a Claydon.

 

[Rob Holmes]

Yes, still have the Claydon

Since i made the 1st post Jeff Claydon rang me and we had a proactive discussion about improvements.
Its not 100% perfect but moving in right direction.
To briefly summarise (as ive just moved house with no internet and typing this on my phone)
Sold the discs and bought a Cousins Surface cultivator to mix in heavy crop residues after chopped straw, osr and beans. It also leaves a consolidated finish. We use it to create a bit more tilth for spring crops too.
Trying to chance rotatoon, it a work in progress but aiming to have 1 winter cereal followed by a spring break crop of either osr, beans or oats.
More fym used as we've started a dairy herd, so most of straw is used on that and comes back as fym before springs crops
Drill earlier! I want to be finished drilling wheat by mid october at latest
Dont be scared to plough, this winter when we had 2 dry days together we've ploughed and combi drilled and i dont think that has undermined any good work we've done with claydon as soil was still quite friable and worked down well, if we'd attempted to ckaydon then the seed would be in the wet, slimy 3 inches.

 

[rs1]

Yes, still have the Claydon

Since i made the 1st post Jeff Claydon rang me and we had a proactive discussion about improvements.
Its not 100% perfect but moving in right direction.
To briefly summarise (as ive just moved house with no internet and typing this on my phone)
Sold the discs and bought a Cousins Surface cultivator to mix in heavy crop residues after chopped straw, osr and beans. It also leaves a consolidated finish. We use it to create a bit more tilth for spring crops too.
Trying to chance rotatoon, it a work in progress but aiming to have 1 winter cereal followed by a spring break crop of either osr, beans or oats.
More fym used as we've started a dairy herd, so most of straw is used on that and comes back as fym before springs crops
Drill earlier! I want to be finished drilling wheat by mid october at latest
Dont be scared to plough, this winter when we had 2 dry days together we've ploughed and combi drilled and i dont think that has undermined any good work we've done with claydon as soil was still quite friable and worked down well, if we'd attempted to ckaydon then the seed would be in the wet, slimy 3 inches.

I think I’m heading for the same situation. I use a Claydon as my main drill and combi as back up (I sold a sumo versatile for various reasons) I’m missing a cultivator that works in front of a Claydon for rough in even or rutted fields or for spring drill to help dry ground up a bit. I’ve got a fair few acres of beans that will need cultivating to repair the damage from drilling in wet conditions. I also keep going back to ploughing for spring crops and drilling with the combi, it’s a hard cycle to break.

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

Yes, still have the Claydon

Since i made the 1st post Jeff Claydon rang me and we had a proactive discussion about improvements.
Its not 100% perfect but moving in right direction.
To briefly summarise (as ive just moved house with no internet and typing this on my phone)
Sold the discs and bought a Cousins Surface cultivator to mix in heavy crop residues after chopped straw, osr and beans. It also leaves a consolidated finish. We use it to create a bit more tilth for spring crops too.
Trying to chance rotatoon, it a work in progress but aiming to have 1 winter cereal followed by a spring break crop of either osr, beans or oats.
More fym used as we've started a dairy herd, so most of straw is used on that and comes back as fym before springs crops
Drill earlier! I want to be finished drilling wheat by mid october at latest
Dont be scared to plough, this winter when we had 2 dry days together we've ploughed and combi drilled and i dont think that has undermined any good work we've done with claydon as soil was still quite friable and worked down well, if we'd attempted to ckaydon then the seed would be in the wet, slimy 3 inches.

You rate the Cousins then? Why not a set of speed discs instead of a time machine? Have you gone back to preforming all your land prior to drilling?