Companion Cropping

[Shropshire Farmer]

So I was thinking of undersowing spring barley with yellow trefoil and white clover. But the cost of the mix is around £30 acre.
So have thought about spring peas which will be around £7 acre. Harvest at the same time and seperate the peas out of the barley.
What are your thoughts ?
Ideally follow with rape but could be a good option for winter wheat if it's a late harvest.

 

[Great In Grass]

Less than £20.00/acre here.

 

[fodderfarm]

@Shropshire Farmer did you go with peas to under so barley? Been looking at barley and pea mix for whole crop towards cattle feed

 

[juke]

We put clover n trefoil in this time undersown spring oats , it looks promising , clover is really starting to nodulate, can't remember what rate we sowed at of the top of my head ...

 

[RTK Farmer]

May sow some companion crop beans for drilling rape into tomorrow. Any thoughts on bean rate?
Starter for ten, 80kgs.
Pic below of rape bean mix taken in France early Nov last year.

 

[parker]

personally I would 80- 100 kg,
are you hoping winter frost will take the beans?

 

[TelesnaAg]

Wouldnt be hard to bounce the beans out the back or clean with combine on osr settings...one would think?

Ant...

 

[martian]

It is a bit obvious growing plants as companion crops. We have spread the diversity here a bit by taking crops from different bilogical kingdoms. In this case mulika and mushrooms.

 

[Great In Grass]

We put clover n trefoil in this time undersown spring oats , it looks promising , clover is really starting to nodulate, can't remember what rate we sowed at of the top of my head ...

Sold a lot of that mix this year, 3kg/acre we're recommending.

 

[RTK Farmer]

personally I would 80- 100 kg,
are you hoping winter frost will take the beans?

Went for 90, yes frost kill or herbicide in spring if needed.

 

[cousinjack]

Have heard that rape & peas is gaining in popularity?? Peas use the rape as support and grow better... Harvest at the same time and sieve them apart at harvest... apparently both yield as well as if grown independently......... Anyone tried this ?

 

[parker]

we combined my burseem clover companion trial last Tuesday , the yield monitor shot up to 6 t/ha with the highest reading at 6.8
so no longer a trial!

 

[cousinjack]

Was that clover with wheat ?

 

[parker]

Was that clover with wheat ?

no osr

 

[cousinjack]

Wow, Worth looking into then ! What happens with the clover? Plough it back in ? Or I guess you could harvest or graze ?

 

[parker]

all went through the combine , so I shall have to wait and see what happens next

 

[Longneck]

What type of clover did you use? Sounds like a good result, what was the yield like in the non clover part?

 

[Steel]

Went for 90, yes frost kill or herbicide in spring if needed.

Why not harvest them and seperate later. I know of someone who had a good yield doing that last year. I grew and harvester 10 acres of wheat and beans last year and it was so good I have 30 acres this year.

 

[Brisel]

What does pre em clomazone do to vetch or berseem clover? I am trying a field of companion crop with FSS Picto oilseed rape but have a cleaver and hedge mustard problem. I can do the cleavers with spring Galera but the hedge mustard is only killed in osr by clomazone, Clearfield or glyphosate.

@Andy Howard @richard hammond @Woodlander or any other agronomists who understand companion crops?

 

[Woodlander]

Sorry @Brisel I can't be any help RE clomazone effects on vetch or berseem clover. @Bryan@Albaugh might have some info as they sell Clomate. Thinking aloud, clomazone can be used on peas and beans and they are legumes. vetch and berseem clover are both legumes. Doesn't always hold true that if an active doesn't control one member of a plant family it doesn't control any (otherwise I'd be using Atlantis in oats) but sometimes it does.