Cover crop managment

[PI Stsker]

How do you manage residuals with your over winter cover crop cultivations? We are putting in a cover crop overwinter before spring barley, how do you manage the crop before cultivations? Simply spray and cultivate in or will the topper need to come out etc?

 

[JohnnyF]

Depends on what you’re planning on drilling and the height / what cultivations equipment you have.

 

[PI Stsker]

Depends on what you’re planning on drilling and the height / what cultivations equipment you have.

Drilling in September leave it until ready to drill spring barley, preferably on a minimum till set up with a horsch terrano doing most of the cultivating backed up with various older methods.
A seed blend of 70% Winter Vetch, 20% Crimson Clover, 10% Berseem Clover

 

[Sandy]

Drilling in September leave it until ready to drill spring barley, preferably on a minimum till set up with a horsch terrano doing most of the cultivating backed up with various older methods.
A seed blend of 70% Winter Vetch, 20% Crimson Clover, 10% Berseem Clover

Roll on a hard frost

 

[PI Stsker]

Roll on a hard frost

And then just cultivate in as normal once it’s flat and out the way?

 

[JohnnyF]

Drilling in September leave it until ready to drill spring barley, preferably on a minimum till set up with a horsch terrano doing most of the cultivating backed up with various older methods.
A seed blend of 70% Winter Vetch, 20% Crimson Clover, 10% Berseem Clover

The vetch will cause you the most headache in terms of trash flow. As mentioned above roll on a frosty morning to snap it off or you might have to do a shallow disc pass first to knock it down and chop it up abit.

With all of ours we run the joker through it very shallow to do exactly the same as I mention above before putting the terrano MT in to it.
Ofcorse if you have a decent size topper this would save a lot of potential head aches if you don’t have a decent disc set

 

[HarryB97]

Sheep! Save your self a job and make some money back and rent the grazing out.

 

[Case290]

I’ve tried over winter cover but the ground didn’t dry better to have bare stubble sprayed off early so the wind can dry the soil. Then just dd into that Don’t do anything else is my view after trying it.

 

[tr250]

Sheep! Save your self a job and make some money back and rent the grazing out.

I was going to say the same seems pointless spending money on a cover crop and not get anything back from it or turn it into usable fertiliser

 

[L P]

I’ve tried over winter cover but the ground didn’t dry better to have bare stubble sprayed off early so the wind can dry the soil. Then just dd into that Don’t do anything else is my view after trying it.

I tend to agree. Not sure why the focus is all on high biomass with broad leaves. 40kg/ha of spring oats gives good root growth, frost kills to a certain extent and holds the ground open. Tried mustard once and the ground in the spring was solid and sodden.

 

[tr250]

I tend to agree. Not sure why the focus is all on high biomass with broad leaves. 40kg/ha of spring oats gives good root growth, frost kills to a certain extent and holds the ground open. Tried mustard once and the ground in the spring was solid and sodden.

This is where sheep come in they clear it so that wind can get to the surface and slightly poach/cultivate call it what you will on the surface allowing more blackgrass to grow all when it’s too wet to get on with a sprayer

 

[L P]

This is where sheep come in they clear it so that wind can get to the surface and slightly poach/cultivate call it what you will on the surface allowing more blackgrass to grow all when it’s too wet to get on with a sprayer

Takes a good size flock and a conscientious and willing shepherd to manage it without doing more damage than good though, sheep can put it down pretty tight and puddle the surface badly... they drove them down canal bases for good reason!

 

[tr250]

Takes a good size flock and a conscientious and willing shepherd to manage it without doing more damage than good though, sheep can put it down pretty tight and puddle the surface badly... they drove them down canal bases for good reason!

Yes they consolidate but in my opinion they don’t compact. It’s very different to mechanical compaction, I was speaking to my agronomist last week about it and he agreed often the crop is best in the sheeps high traffic areas ie gateways. We like to graze earlier rather than later so that the weather can get rid of the surface padding. But yes it does need good management on both arable and sheep

 

[PI Stsker]

I should say now that in the last 60 years there has been two winters where sheep have been allowed on and both times we’ve been done over with irresponsible shepherds leaving them way too long so that’s a non starter.

 

[Spud]

We grow quite a lot of CC's.

Pre spring combinables normally cultivate with a 6m vibroflex but too hard this year so the Simba SL has come out. Vaderstad rapid drill cc. Spray off usually feb direct drill March. The dead cc is laid over by the drill and suppresses the weeds long enough for the cash crop to get away.
Pre roots we glyphosate them then top with a big old batwing within a week of spraying. Muck if possible. Simba TL. Plough or flatlift etc then potatoes or beet. Often manage not to have to plough beet land but rare not to plough potatoes

 

[tr250]

I should say now that in the last 60 years there has been two winters where sheep have been allowed on and both times we’ve been done over with irresponsible shepherds leaving them way too long so that’s a non starter.

Yes that’s a big problem. I can see it from both sides as we are mixed farmers. But if they are charged a fair whack they will want their money’s worth if we hadn’t got any sheep I’d sell the keep fairly cheap because of what good the sheep do the soil and blackgrass control but with the agreement that when it’s eaten up they are moved straight away.

 

[Fish]

Quite frankly that mix of covers, drilled in september, won't amount to much.
I doubt you hardly see the clover.

 

[Brisel]

Quite frankly that mix of covers, drilled in september, won't amount to much.
I doubt you hardly see the clover.

This. Sow it in mid August and you'll have a much bigger canopy.

I spray mine off in late January and there is nothing left 6 weeks later. Even mid February sprayed is dead enough within 4 weeks to put a cultivator or tine drill through.

 

[Wombat]

We planted some vetch a few years ago in sept, slugs loved it and it was about 2 inches tall. A cover crop on heavy land needs to be dealt with in Jan or it will keep to much moisture in and be a pain in the butt

 

[melted welly]

We grow quite a lot of CC's.

Pre spring combinables normally cultivate with a 6m vibroflex but too hard this year so the Simba SL has come out. Vaderstad rapid drill cc. Spray off usually feb direct drill March. The dead cc is laid over by the drill and suppresses the weeds long enough for the cash crop to get away.
Pre roots we glyphosate them then top with a big old batwing within a week of spraying. Muck if possible. Simba TL. Plough or flatlift etc then potatoes or beet. Often manage not to have to plough beet land but rare not to plough potatoes

What cover do you sow before spring combineables?