Continuous spring barley

[Cows 'n grass]

I'm committed to another 5 years of 110ac low input spring cropping on some rented ground to meet the owners CSS scheme. I have the option of moving 10/20ac grassland i can move around this but its near enough continuous.

At the moment its ploughed, worked and drilled conventionally by contractors and then cut for wholecrop.

Could i direct drill this? I have the option of a contractors Claydon hybrid or i am vaguely looking at buying an Aichison seedmatic. http://www.aitchisonagri.co.uk/Aitchison/category/Seedmatic+Drills.html

I really do treat it as a very low input crop at the moment, half of it might get one broadleaf spray but the rest will see no sprays at all. Will i run into more disease problems if i dd into old stubble?

Thanks

 

[Flat 10]

I'm committed to another 5 years of 110ac low input spring cropping on some rented ground to meet the owners CSS scheme. I have the option of moving 10/20ac grassland i can move around this but its near enough continuous.

At the moment its ploughed, worked and drilled conventionally by contractors and then cut for wholecrop.

Could i direct drill this? I have the option of a contractors Claydon hybrid or i am vaguely looking at buying an Aichison seedmatic. http://www.aitchisonagri.co.uk/Aitchison/category/Seedmatic+Drills.html

I really do treat it as a very low input crop at the moment, half of it might get one broadleaf spray but the rest will see no sprays at all. Will i run into more disease problems if i dd into old stubble?

Thanks

Not if you spray it off?

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Not if you spray it off?

Burning off stubbles isn't an issue. I used to use an independent agronomist and he insisted on 2 fungicides every year. We were taking it through to combining then but I'm really not convinced it was a profitable exercise.

My worry was that I would need more fungicides with dd rather than a plough based system.

 

[Flat 10]

Burning off stubbles isn't an issue. I used to use an independent agronomist and he insisted on 2 fungicides every year. We were taking it through to combining then but I'm really not convinced it was a profitable exercise.

My worry was that I would need more fungicides with dd rather than a plough based system.

I don’t think that’s true at all. You should post in the DD section but I think many are heading towards fewer rather than more fungicide

 

[SilliamWhale]

I have two fields of continuous spring barley. Theyre awkward fields that usually get salt sprayed in winter.

Graze with sheep in winter, spray off early, drill late. Chuck muck on.

No extra fungal issues at all. Bit of Fandango

 

[tr250]

@Cows 'n grass google Agrivista Lamport trials that’s essentially what they are doing there with cover crop and spring cereals to control black grass. Could you use a cover crop to graze in autumn/winter also there is a payment for cover crops that your landlord maybe into

 

[Bury the Trash]

I'm committed to another 5 years of 110ac low input spring cropping on some rented ground to meet the owners CSS scheme. I have the option of moving 10/20ac grassland i can move around this but its near enough continuous.

At the moment its ploughed, worked and drilled conventionally by contractors and then cut for wholecrop.

Could i direct drill this? I have the option of a contractors Claydon hybrid or i am vaguely looking at buying an Aichison seedmatic. http://www.aitchisonagri.co.uk/Aitchison/category/Seedmatic+Drills.html

I really do treat it as a very low input crop at the moment, half of it might get one broadleaf spray but the rest will see no sprays at all. Will i run into more disease problems if i dd into old stubble?

Thanks

imo better to use the contractor and claydon @Devon James ?

combi cropping uses less fungicide / is more sustainable .slightly riskier with weed control tho. depends a bit on how clean it is to start.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I have two fields of continuous spring barley. Theyre awkward fields that usually get salt sprayed in winter.

Graze with sheep in winter, spray off early, drill late. Chuck muck on.

No extra fungal issues at all. Bit of Fandango

That's what I've been doing for the last few years, double cropping SB and forage rape. In many ways the rape was the more valuable crop but now it's in a scheme where it has to be continuous low input spring cereals with overwintered stubbles. I will graze the stubbles in February before re planting.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

imo better to use the contractor and claydon @Devon James ?

combi cropping uses less fungicide / is more sustainable .slightly riskier with weed control tho. depends a bit on how clean it is to start.

James does travel this way but this would be someone else. Unfortunately no combicrop allowed, it was my first question.

 

[deleted user 837354]

In theory would constitute a higher disease risk but all else being equal regarding your previous management it would make no difference. A reasonable spring barley crop would receive 2 fungicide passes but a lot of people do an all in 1 pass and leave it at that.

 

[Brisel]

How long before drilling can you spray off the regenerated stubble to act as a clean break whilst staying within the scheme rules? Net blotch & ramularia would be my main worries. Dressed seed would help that.

I've Claydon drilled spring barley into a neighbour's sprayed off stubble 2 years in a row & he did his own scratch till sowing before that. I think it's been continuous spring barley for 4 years. No disease that I've seen. @tw15 can answer that better than I can.

 

[tw15]

How long before drilling can you spray off the regenerated stubble to act as a clean break whilst staying within the scheme rules? Net blotch & ramularia would be my main worries. Dressed seed would help that.

I've Claydon drilled spring barley into a neighbour's sprayed off stubble 2 years in a row & he did his own scratch till sowing before that. I think it's been continuous spring barley for 4 years. No disease that I've seen. @tw15 can answer that better than I can.

Been sb for about 8 years and in that time it did have a break of osr once . We don't spend anymore on it than any other sb we grow as it is pretty poor ground . Brisel has claydon drilled it for for 2 years now and cant fault that drilling . Most years the straw is chopped as well.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

How long before drilling can you spray off the regenerated stubble to act as a clean break whilst staying within the scheme rules? Net blotch & ramularia would be my main worries. Dressed seed would help that.

I've Claydon drilled spring barley into a neighbour's sprayed off stubble 2 years in a row & he did his own scratch till sowing before that. I think it's been continuous spring barley for 4 years. No disease that I've seen. @tw15 can answer that better than I can.

It has to remain as stubble until 15th of Feb and then I would plan to graze it off prior to spraying it off.

 

[Brisel]

Ok, that's reasonable hygiene to stop infected plant tissue from carrying over to the new crop

 

[Case290]

Jump inn . how to set the depth on a Claydon. did one field to shallow straight into the next same setting to deep. Time will tell us better to shallow or too deep. Spring barley

 

[DrWazzock]

Considering continuous spring barley on some of the poorer ground here as it seems to withstand drought much better than wheat here. I am also running out of viable break crop options. Trying to keep it low cost so will it work with zero till or very min till or will last years residue still be infectious by the time the next years crop is drilled? Would a robust fungicide programme or dressed seed sort that out or would ploughing be mandatory to avoid a build up of disease? Thanks.
The best crops I have here at the moment are direct drilled spring barley on all soil types. Not quite direct drilled as the land was lightly shuffled over in the autumn with a stubble cultivator but it now looks the best crop by far. Ploughed land isn’t so good due to spring moisture loss and cobbly seedbeds so I want to avoid ploughing if I can.

 

[snarling bee]

Ploughed land isn’t so good due to spring moisture loss and cobbly seedbeds so I want to avoid ploughing if I can.

What happened to ploughing in the autumn?
All our spring cereals were drilled into Autumn prepared seedbeds. I've just combined 176 tonnes (weighbridge) off 22 Ha of Fairing spring barley (lowest yield in RL) 3rd cereal, drilled 8 April with vaderstad straight into ground moved to 2" in the autumn. Not a BG plant in sight, only herbicide was a sniff of 'Ally' for charlock.
Ground has had a good amount of compost over the years which helps, but no fancy biostimulants or snake oils.

 

[Case290]

Sounds like a dream for you well done, same again next yr please

 

[diesel1]

I continuous spring barley on some land, 9 years in a row so far, yielding very well this year!

 

[snarling bee]

What happened to ploughing in the autumn?
All our spring cereals were drilled into Autumn prepared seedbeds. I've just combined 176 tonnes (weighbridge) off 22 Ha of Fairing spring barley (lowest yield in RL) 3rd cereal, drilled 8 April with vaderstad straight into ground moved to 2" in the autumn. Not a BG plant in sight, only herbicide was a sniff of 'Ally' for charlock.
Ground has had a good amount of compost over the years which helps, but no fancy biostimulants or snake oils.

For comparison last year the same field did 7.05 t/ha. same everything.