Compaction can sort itself !

[Clive]

I recall asking before I started with the 750a asking if soil could repair itself when it suffered compaction, I was very secptical when @SilliamWhale and others suggested it could

Well I have now seen it with my own eyes and sado that I am find this very exciting !

Here's the scenario - last year was our first with our RTK system in place and using the sprayer to put in tramlines, due to the increased accuracy this meant that they didn't not sit on top of the previous drilled tramlines.

The 'old' tramlines were very compacted, used through the very wet 2012 growing season they were rutted in many places and deeply compacted, it was so wet at harvest there was no chance to try and fix this in autumn 2012 we just had to get crops in.

As a result last year you could still see these old tramlines in the 2013 crops. In many places crop that did grow over them was stunted and clearly suffering from the effects of the compaction


So this year and rotationally the fields in question are now growing cover crops ahead of spring cropping, they were drilled with the Dale tight behind the combine. And the miraculous bit is that any sign or evidence if these old tramlines is gone, not a trace ! Even digging where they were there is no sign if horizontal laters in the soil

Worms, roots and weather seem to have done what in the past I only thought a subsoiler leg was capable of, it seems to take a season to happen but it does happen it seems

Worm numbers are getting crazy already, I dug a spade today and I swear it was nearly as much worm as soil ! I then went digging in land after potatoes, I had dug 3 spades before I found my first worm :-(. On ww after osr when you pick up a clump of osr residue I find beetles and not slugs !

Why didn't i do this years ago !!

 

[Feldspar]

How are your cover crops looking?

 

[Clive]

How are your cover crops looking?

I will get some pics up - all have established well mostly pedders #1, amount of growth correlates directly to drilling date, ie earlier = bigger

Have to say biomass wise my cheap home left over mix (mustard, sunflower, spring oat, linseed, pea) mix is the best and cost bugger all really (I only actually bought the mustard)

 

[jack6480]

Why isn't all this in the blog?!

 

[Clive]

Why isn't all this in the blog?!

I've been kind of busy with this forum ! Just not had time to update that since I got this place going

I will try and bring it upto date over the winter

 

[Feldspar]

I will get some pics up - all have established well mostly pedders #1, amount of growth correlates directly to drilling date, ie earlier = bigger

Have to say biomass wise my cheap home left over mix (mustard, sunflower, spring oat, linseed, pea) mix is the best and cost bugger all really (I only actually bought the mustard)

It raises the question - how much extra benefit do you get from growing exotic species over bog standard UK arable crops?

 

[Feldspar]

Back on topic though, we made quite a mess of our rape (Claydon drilled) tramlines over the winter. Not foot deep ruts but quite a bit of slippage with the sprayer. Drove over the field in a tractor the other day. 40kph with no problem, almost smoother than the tarmac road.

 

[Clive]

It raises the question - how much extra benefit do you get from growing exotic species over bog standard UK arable crops?

That's the question I'm asking myself based on experience is far. I guess it depends what you want from your cover crop

I want biomass to build the water holding capacity of my light soils, volunteer osr is free and where I still have it has as much biomass as anything ! Mustard cheap and also impressive in this respect especially with oats in the bottom of it

If you were after grazing feed value, n fixing or deep rooting fir structure etc then I see value in the more exotic mixes

Big lesson is date is everything, to be worthwhile it needs to be in quick, I'm thinking of fitting an autocast to the combine header next year fir cover crops and then just roll ? It hard to be fast enough with the drill when harvest is the priority

I'm not sure I will buy cover crop seed, with my mix of cropping I have ww, beans, peas, osr, linseed, oats to use and I think I might just grow a small area of mustard and sunflower somewhere to provide even more diversity in the future

 

[Nick.]

You could not have mentioned this at a better time.
We have got a couple of headlands which are showing signs of compaction. I haven't had chance to get out with a spade to prove it yet.
But it is the headland that gets most of the traffic.

Do you think that if we kept trailers off it next year, so only combine, drill and rolls turning on it, it would have a chance of sorting itself out ?

Up until the other day I was set to sell our subsoiler.

 

[Clive]

You could not have mentioned this at a better time.
We have got a couple of headlands which are showing signs of compaction. I haven't had chance to get out with a spade to prove it yet.
But it is the headland that gets most of the traffic.

Do you think that if we kept trailers off it next year, so only combine, drill and rolls turning on it, it would have a chance of sorting itself out ?

Up until the other day I was set to sell our subsoiler.

It might be soil type dependant but from what I've seen here your headland will suffer this year if just left but by next year will be fine, depends if you think the one year loss is worthwhile pain to go through ?

 

[Nick.]

It is drilled with OSR, it's just the first 10m from the headland.
The plant is there but very small.
So it will have a while to hopefully come right.

Out with the spade tomorrow I think.

 

[multi power]

I recall asking before I started with the 750a asking if soil could repair itself when it suffered compaction, I was very secptical when @SilliamWhale and others suggested it could

Well I have now seen it with my own eyes and sado that I am find this very exciting !

Here's the scenario - last year was our first with our RTK system in place and using the sprayer to put in tramlines, due to the increased accuracy this meant that they didn't not sit on top of the previous drilled tramlines.

The 'old' tramlines were very compacted, used through the very wet 2012 growing season they were rutted in many places and deeply compacted, it was so wet at harvest there was no chance to try and fix this in autumn 2012 we just had to get crops in.

As a result last year you could still see these old tramlines in the 2013 crops. In many places crop that did grow over them was stunted and clearly suffering from the effects of the compaction


So this year and rotationally the fields in question are now growing cover crops ahead of spring cropping, they were drilled with the Dale tight behind the combine. And the miraculous bit is that any sign or evidence if these old tramlines is gone, not a trace ! Even digging where they were there is no sign if horizontal laters in the soil

Worms, roots and weather seem to have done what in the past I only thought a subsoiler leg was capable of, it seems to take a season to happen but it does happen it seems

Worm numbers are getting crazy already, I dug a spade today and I swear it was nearly as much worm as soil ! I then went digging in land after potatoes, I had dug 3 spades before I found my first worm :-(. On ww after osr when you pick up a clump of osr residue I find beetles and not slugs !

Why didn't i do this years ago !!

this may be a silly question but why do you have more worms ?
i know very little about arable cropping, but i have no doubt about worms n a little time fixing compaction, to me worms are like sunshine, free n so much better than anything you can buy

 

[Clive]

this may be a silly question but why do you have more worms ?
i know very little about arable cropping, but i have no doubt about worms n a little time fixing compaction, to me worms are like sunshine, free n so much better than anything you can buy

Because I'm leaving them along, not destroying their little world with cultivators every 12 months !

Also (controversial I know). But no longer using the wrong slug pellets

Feeding them organic matter (no straw sales plus compost)

Minimal insecticide use

 

[Clive]

It is drilled with OSR, it's just the first 10m from the headland.
The plant is there but very small.
So it will have a while to hopefully come right.

Out with the spade tomorrow I think.

Bet it will be poor this year and come right in the following crop if you just leave it

 

[multi power]

Because I'm leaving them along, not destroying their little world with cultivators every 12 months !

Also (controversial I know). But no longer using the wrong slug pellets

Feeding them organic matter (no straw sales plus compost)

Minimal insecticide use

ok so another silly question, why is direct drilling better, is it done for cost savings or to improve the soil?

 

[Richard III]

It is drilled with OSR, it's just the first 10m from the headland.
The plant is there but very small.
So it will have a while to hopefully come right.

Out with the spade tomorrow I think.

The trouble with sub soiling is that the soil is destabilised and so recompacts when run on next harvest. Much better to let the soil sort itself out if it will. My headlands have all sorted them selves out, but I guess ever situation is different. I used to struggle to get a crop to grow on the worst no matter what I did, it is very frustrating to find out after 35 years of farming that all I needed to do was stop cultivating.

 

[Kildare]

This past summer has done wonders for soil. We have heavy land here which was ploughed and drilled last autumn in less than ideal conditions.
Yet now i can push a rod 2.5 ft into the ground. Fields we ploughed have turned up beautiful.
DD field looks fine too.

 

[Clive]

ok so another silly question, why is direct drilling better, is it done for cost savings or to improve the soil?

My reason is to improve soil and use water better

It saves a lot of time and money which is a nice side benifit but anyone dong it just for that reason is doomed to fail IMO

 

[multi power]

My reason is to improve soil and use water better

It saves a lot of tine and money which is a nice side benifit but anyone dong it just for that reason is doomed to fail IMO

bit like spring calving dairy cows, a lot less work but a waste of time if you just do it for that reason

 

[Andrew K]

I've been kind of busy with this forum ! Just not had time to update that since I got this place going

I will try and bring it upto date over the winter

Just had a look at the blog Clive, some very interesting points there already.