Combi drilling close behind plough autumn 2019?

[Pilatus]

Are those of you that use the above system, able to make some progress with your Autumn drilling this year or has your land now to wet to allow you to combi drill close to the pIough?
I only ask as a semi retired farmer.

 

[Pilatus]

Sorry only just seen the “Drilling Anyone?” Thread.

 

[David.]

I accept that some farms need drilling now or not at all, but where there is much black grass pressure, I'd say it is looking for trouble.

 

[KB6930]

We run this system and are quickly running out of ground that we can manage to even make a reasonable job of . Managed another 20 acres today after rain last night again some behind spuds before the field got any worse than it already was and some behind oats and it was surprisingly good for the field it was.

I think we've around 180 acres out of 850 left to go but all the easy stuff is done where in a good year it's the other way around

 

[DrWazzock]

That approach has never worked here on the really heavy land. It needs weathering before drilling but then if it rains too much it slumps too much and wont drill.
Some of our loams would combi drill straight behind the plough but the problem is we dont have one field with the same soil type throughout it. The sand won't combi drill behind the plough as one pass isnt enough to reconsolidate it. Its like driving on a matress.

But those with nice loamy fields will say it works. anything would work on their fields. They dont know they are born.

 

[DrWazzock]

The clay here if ploughed up and power harrowed too soon afterwards breaks into cannon balls. Poughed up wet it power harrows into dough balls. Left to weather and it will crumble and form a tilth if you catch it right, when twice over with the power harrow and then drilling works well. Direct drilling tends to cut a slot in putty if its wet which fills with water. If its dry, its like concrete and the drill screeches along the top. Some of it is so pure and blue you could make pottery out of it. Some is yellow. i often think subsoiling is futile as it never dries at depth so the tine must be smearing at depth. Water has great difficulty geting through it. Its like a sealant putty, like JB weld.

 

[rob h]

Sounds just like our soil

 

[Pilatus]

The clay here if ploughed up and power harrowed too soon afterwards breaks into cannon balls. Poughed up wet it power harrows into dough balls. Left to weather and it will crumble and form a tilth if you catch it right, when twice over with the power harrow and then drilling works well. Direct drilling tends to cut a slot in putty if its wet which fills with water. If its dry, its like concrete and the drill screeches along the top. Some of it is so pure and blue you could make pottery out of it. Some is yellow. i often think subsoiling is futile as it never dries at depth so the tine must be smearing at depth. Water has great difficulty geting through it. Its like a sealant putty, like JB weld.

Those of us farming Cotswold Brash or Chalk Soils do not realise how fortunate we are.

 

[DRC]

If we can get the maize of without too much mess, then most of what we have left should work this way

 

[yellow belly]

On heavy land I farm ploughing when it is dry is the only option that works
Once it is wet ploughing makes it worse and takes a couple of years for recovery

If it is not dry enough doing nothing is the only profitable option

 

[jed]

Boys ground done now just the heavier stuff left long range is looking crap .Were tucked in behind the plough and will be able to go it’s the headlands that are the problem at worst I’ll have to drag them up in the spring and put some spring barley on them .
What a bloody year ?

 

[D14]

Anybody who can plough and combi drill close behind has not got heavy land. Heavy land under the plough needs weather and machinery to get a seed bed.

 

[jed]

I agree it’s probably not what a lot would call heavy it’s loam over clay .Mostly wheat left which is far more forgiving in a wet seedbed .
I reckon 2000 was the last time we had such a wet autumn around here closely followed by foot mouth the following spring .We drilled most of our wheat last week of Jan beginning of feb it didn’t break any records but from memory was around the 3 ton .With a reasonable price.

 

[DRC]

Anybody who can plough and combi drill close behind has not got heavy land. Heavy land under the plough needs weather and machinery to get a seed bed.

Here we are on glacial stuff, so often a bit of everything in the same field, with snotty clay on headlands. We can be drilling nicely behind the plough, then hit a real heavy patch where it’s hardly burying the seed. We have to put up with it. Should really have a drill that you can increase the seed rate on the move.

 

[deleted user 837354]

I thought the idea was to plough up soil which wasn't saturated so you had a chance to make a half sensible job of drilling it. It's that heavy sort of land that goes wrong- where it's been ploughed and had serious rain then turns to that weird stuff with no backbone that is horrible for anything to grow in.

Worth ploughing dirt and leaving it to weather, soon make use of that in spring.

 

[teslacoils]

Can plough on a decent frost. Similarly if we get the chance to get a day drilling on the frost I'll chance 100ac at a crazy seed rate. The one plus here is we have large fields and wide, non stewardship margins so don't need to drill headlands the normal way if needed. If we can get 3t at £150 with a splash of residual and a spring wild oat spray it may pay.

 

[fingermouse]

Plough and combi system with us
They’re drilling barley today working right up behind the plough second driest field on farm , the first was drilled 10 days ago with barley and is now up in row , today has been the only day since that the ground has even come near being fit to travel
Just sit tight then and see what happens then think the rape stubbles will turn over and drill straight behind , just needs to be right on top for traction
2nd wheats and beyond looking iffy stubbles are like bogs at present , will drill into new year , suppose extra spent on seed then kind of gets balanced out with less chem spend maybe
Got 100 odd acres of heavy clay stubbles that’s definitely going to be spring crops soil saturated to flooding point even if it did dry out would just be drilling into tennis ball lumps of shite and history has taught me not to maul it in
Another 80 acres of ground let for spuds , not dug yet so that’s heading for spring as well I reckon

 

[2wheels]

The clay here if ploughed up and power harrowed too soon afterwards breaks into cannon balls. Poughed up wet it power harrows into dough balls. Left to weather and it will crumble and form a tilth if you catch it right, when twice over with the power harrow and then drilling works well. Direct drilling tends to cut a slot in putty if its wet which fills with water. If its dry, its like concrete and the drill screeches along the top. Some of it is so pure and blue you could make pottery out of it. Some is yellow. i often think subsoiling is futile as it never dries at depth so the tine must be smearing at depth. Water has great difficulty geting through it. Its like a sealant putty, like JB weld.

what was it growing 50-70 yrs ago? grass?

 

[DrWazzock]

what was it growing 50-70 yrs ago? grass?

Yes it was grass, and the more I consider it, the more it appears to be the sensible option. A lot of our clay is low lying next to watercourses so grassing it down would also serve as a buffer. Seriously considering doing this. Leave the easy working stuff in blocks so it can be dealt with any time. Draw a straight line along the buffers next to watercourses would partition a lot of the clay off. The fields here before hedge removal were odd shapes so that the different soil types were partitioned. Made sense then, and makes sense now. I am gradually increasing the cattle anyway, despite the doom and gloom as even with lower prices it makes more sense than arable. Sheep are OK but being out all winter can tend to poach the heavy land. No accident that this place had a big cattle yard 200 years ago.

Moral: life is as easy or as diffcult as you make it.

 

[DrWazzock]

Can plough on a decent frost. Similarly if we get the chance to get a day drilling on the frost I'll chance 100ac at a crazy seed rate. The one plus here is we have large fields and wide, non stewardship margins so don't need to drill headlands the normal way if needed. If we can get 3t at £150 with a splash of residual and a spring wild oat spray it may pay.

Not disputing this but I'd be a bit concerned about smearing the furrow bottom here and creating a pan, but our clay has no chalk in it.