Fat hen
Member
After 15yrs of contract farming (500ac clay & sand) mostly with solo and plough I am just taking the reins from my Dad. Primarily in the name of reducing costs I have changed contractors (a brave move as they were cousins). They had been overcharging by Dad for years (15-40% over the going-rate) as I found out and we had been losing financial viability. So I have set about looking at everything and reducing the costs.
The attraction of Strip till/DD to me is primarily financial (as a contractee this is easy to quantify, sometimes the dry & cloddy clay was 100/ac before drilling!) but also in terms of the soil structure and health. It is closer to the natural state. I like the science behind it and want to learn more. Ideally I'd have a CTF contractor but none around.
Ive been spreading duck muck (muck for straw) and/or compost every year, after decades of none. Soil science suggests that SOM is 'king'. So all our fields have had a good dollop (30t/ac) of muck/compost, now the plan is for less but more often to feed worms, etc. Thinking about spraying on compost tea - anyone tried this?
We have mole-ploughed all the clay fields which has helped immensely with drainage on the whole. We think this will need repeating 1 in 4 yrs.
Our yields in the 3 years have been similar to min-till. This year aint looking great though thanks to slugs, but we've had disasters with min-till too. But am omitting OSR for the foreseeable future from clay to hopefully reduce the slugs. Our crops are presently WW, SB, Peas (licensee), Beans & Quinoa. We have set about and reduced the blackgrass massively using Spring crops and low disturbance. The clay is 2 WW then a break/SB. The sand is 1 WW then break,or WW then SB then break.
Ive been looking at each operation and deciding which I might buy kit for Vs a contractor.
So far Ive bought a used fert spreader (contractor costs 7-8k/annum) , a new flail (am in the new Mid-tier sch), and used rolls (contractors often dont get land rolled). We already have a 20 yr old NH 7840 (100hp) and a 30 yr old JCB loader, a trailer and a hedgecutter. My current thoughts are to go down the cover crop route, so to get something to establish a cover crop and provide compaction relief. Eventually a drill but non-committal as yet to which one.
I am thinking this could be sub-tiller (with spreader) and get a used 160hp+ tractor to pull it. In buying this tractor I would then get a used trailed sprayer and perhaps a straw-rake/shallow disks (a la Katros). So its a question of what is worth getting.....
Your thoughts please....
The attraction of Strip till/DD to me is primarily financial (as a contractee this is easy to quantify, sometimes the dry & cloddy clay was 100/ac before drilling!) but also in terms of the soil structure and health. It is closer to the natural state. I like the science behind it and want to learn more. Ideally I'd have a CTF contractor but none around.
Ive been spreading duck muck (muck for straw) and/or compost every year, after decades of none. Soil science suggests that SOM is 'king'. So all our fields have had a good dollop (30t/ac) of muck/compost, now the plan is for less but more often to feed worms, etc. Thinking about spraying on compost tea - anyone tried this?
We have mole-ploughed all the clay fields which has helped immensely with drainage on the whole. We think this will need repeating 1 in 4 yrs.
Our yields in the 3 years have been similar to min-till. This year aint looking great though thanks to slugs, but we've had disasters with min-till too. But am omitting OSR for the foreseeable future from clay to hopefully reduce the slugs. Our crops are presently WW, SB, Peas (licensee), Beans & Quinoa. We have set about and reduced the blackgrass massively using Spring crops and low disturbance. The clay is 2 WW then a break/SB. The sand is 1 WW then break,or WW then SB then break.
Ive been looking at each operation and deciding which I might buy kit for Vs a contractor.
So far Ive bought a used fert spreader (contractor costs 7-8k/annum) , a new flail (am in the new Mid-tier sch), and used rolls (contractors often dont get land rolled). We already have a 20 yr old NH 7840 (100hp) and a 30 yr old JCB loader, a trailer and a hedgecutter. My current thoughts are to go down the cover crop route, so to get something to establish a cover crop and provide compaction relief. Eventually a drill but non-committal as yet to which one.
I am thinking this could be sub-tiller (with spreader) and get a used 160hp+ tractor to pull it. In buying this tractor I would then get a used trailed sprayer and perhaps a straw-rake/shallow disks (a la Katros). So its a question of what is worth getting.....
Your thoughts please....
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