Cover Crop Trials – Worcestershire

[Martin Lole]

Springfield Farm with the help of DFL Trifolium and Green Farm Seeds have created two cover crop trials – one at DLF Trifolium, Inkberrow, Worcestershire and one at our own farm at Peopleton, Worcestershire.

Both trials were drilled with the Mzuri Pro-Til 3, direct into uncultivated soil (Inkberrow – straw baled, Peopleton – straw left on the surface, as the farm has done for the last 5 years).

Drilling 15/8/14 – into wet & cold conditions, however we have not had any rain since. All cover crop trial plots were rolled after drilling. One application of slug bait, but no herbicides/ insecticides.

Green Farm Seeds (Plot 1, 29 and 30) were also used on a whole field scale so therefore we used a lower seed rate to make it more economically viable.

Please bear with me, as I am only able to send 6 photos per post; so there is going to be several initial posts for this thread.


Plot 1 – Green Farm Seeds – Vetch / Pea / Radish Mix (Vetch, Forage Pea, Fodder Radish). 5 kg/ha Cost £25.00 £/ha

Plot 2 – Forage Rye – Protector. 150 kg/ha Cost £135.00 £/ha

Plot 3 – Winter Oats - Mascani. 130 kg/ha Cost £117.00 £/ha

Plot 4 – Winter Triticale - Ragtac. 125 kg/ha Cost £112.50 £/ha

Plot 5 – Winter Vetch – Armantas. 120 kg/ha Cost £228.00 £/ha

Plot 6 – Vetch & Rye mix. 75 kg/ha Cost £108.75 £/ha

Plot 7-32 to follow

 

[Martin Lole]

Plot 7 – Vetch & Rye mix. 50 kg/ha Cost £72.50 £/ha

Plot 8 – Buckwheat. 62 kg/ha Cost £158.00 £/ha

Plot 9 – Westwolds – Angus. 37 kg/ha Cost £74.00 £/ha

Plot 10 – Italian Rye Grass / Catch Crop. 37 kg/ha Cost £77.00 £/ha

Plot 11 – Dual Purpose Forage N & Fix N (Daikon Radish, Forage Rye, Vetch, Crimson Clover). 35 kg/ha Cost £66.50 £/ha

Plot 12 – Root Buster 1 (Oil Radish, Daikon Radish, Forage Rye, Phacelia). 30 kg/ha Cost £58.50 £/ha

 

[Martin Lole]

Plot 13 – Root Buster 2. (Daikon Radish, Forage Rye, Crimson Clover). 30 kg/ha Cost £54.00 £/ha

Plot 14 – Fodder Radish (Radical). 20 kg/ha Cost £78.00 £/ha

Plot 15 – Fodder Radish (Radical). 10 kg/ha Cost £39.00 £/ha

Plot 16 – Fodder Radish (Reset). 20 kg/ha Cost £78.00 £/ha

Plot 17 – Fodder Radish (Reset). 10 kg/ha Cost £39.00 £/h

Plot 18 – Daikon Tillage Radish. 10 kg/ha Cost £75.00 £/ha

 

[Martin Lole]

Plot 19 – Daikon Tillage Radish. 6.5 kg/ha Cost £48.75 £/ha

Plot 20 –. White Mustard. 15 kg/ha Cost £38.55 £/ha

Plot 21 –. Brown Mustard. 15 kg/ha Cost £138.00 £/ha

Plot 22 – Phacelia. 10 kg/ha Cost £77.00 £/ha

Plot 23 – Persian Clover. 10 kg/ha Cost £71.00 £/ha

Plot 24 – Berseme Clover. 8 kg/ha Cost £45.00 £/ha

 

[Martin Lole]

Plot 25 – Crimson Clover. 14 kg/ha Cost £98.00 £/ha

Plot 26 – Late Cover Mix (Forage Rape, Stubble Turnip, White mustard, Fodder Radish). 12.5 kg/ha Cost £46.88 £/ha

Plot 27 – Kwik Fix (White mustard, Fodder Radish). 12.5 kg/ha Cost £56.86 £/ha

Plot 28 – Boost (Texsel Greens, Hybrid Brassica, Brown mustard, Fodder Radish). 6.5 kg/ha Cost £94.25 £/ha

Plot 29 – Green Farm Seeds – Radish Mix (Fodder radish, Tillage Radish). 3 kg/ha Cost £16.50/ha

Plot 30 – Green Farm Seeds – Mustard Mix ( Asta White Mustard, Vittasso Brown Mustard, Carbon Ethopian Mustard). 5 kg/ha Cost £25.00/ha

 

[Martin Lole]

Plot 31 – Comparison Crop, OSR crop Drilled 20/8/14 (5 days later) directly into chopped straw and was not rolled or no herbicide / insecticide applied – 3.8 kg/ha

Plot 32 – Comparison Crop, OSR crop Drilled 16/8/14 straw removed and glyphosate pre- drilling. Rolled after drilling, but no herbicide/ insecticide applied – 3.8 kg/ha

 

[dontknowanything]

Very interesting, but you're going to have to be seriously sold on the concept to be spending that sort of money on seed.

 

[sumo]

What would be the problem with simply sowing this years harvested rape, maybe up to 10kg/ha ?

 

[Robigus]

I think you need to get your seed cost down to the £25/ha region to get people interested.
Personally I like the low rate vetch and rye so I may try growing some on myself.
There are some old royalty free vetch varieties but I'm not sure where one could get the rye.

 

[Clive]

Thanks for sharing Martin - some expensive mixes though there, my limit is £10/ac and Im trying to find ways to bring that down

 

[Clive]

What would be the problem with simply sowing this years harvested rape, maybe up to 10kg/ha ?

osr does nothing for soil biology so not a great cover crop really, I do encourage volunteers though for free biomass. drilling into some today thats akmost knee height, crawling with slugs, not pelleting and predict they wont be a problem for the wheat

 

[Martin Lole]

I do agree that the cost should not be more than £25/ha, which was Green Farm Seeds price 'bracket'. Problem will always be getting enough plant cover in such a short time.

In an ideal world I feel the cover crops should be drilled directly behind the combine to extend the growing season. The straw mulch definitely retained more moisture a returns maxiumn amount of carborn to the soil.

I also like the look of the Cover Mix plot 26 and the Kwik Fix plot 27, reasonably priced.

Today we have had our first rain for a long time, this should bring some serious growth.

 

[Robigus]

I do agree that the cost should not be more than £25/ha, which was Green Farm Seeds price 'bracket'. Problem will always be getting enough plant cover in such a short time.

In an ideal world I feel the cover crops should be drilled directly behind the combine to extend the growing season. The straw mulch definitely retained more moisture a returns maxiumn amount of carborn to the soil.

I also like the look of the Cover Mix plot 26 and the Kwik Fix plot 27, reasonably priced.

Today we have had our first rain for a long time, this should bring some serious growth.

I'm a bit cautious of crops that will be a mass of dense foliage when you want to kill it off in the spring. A spring crop gives a good opportunity to kill off problem grass weeds with a full whack 'round-up' and if your grass weeds are shadowed by big foliage then that is an easy option missed.

 

[Martin Lole]

I'm a bit cautious of crops that will be a mass of dense foliage when you want to kill it off in the spring. A spring crop gives a good opportunity to kill off problem grass weeds with a full whack 'round-up' and if your grass weeds are shadowed by big foliage then that is an easy option missed.

Good point, however the frost should knock out many of the big foliage plants.
Another problem with a lot of foliage in the spring may be the slowing of soil temperatures rising.
Green cover throughout the winter months has to be far better for the soil than been left brown.

 

[Baling Hay]

I'm a bit cautious of crops that will be a mass of dense foliage when you want to kill it off in the spring. A spring crop gives a good opportunity to kill off problem grass weeds with a full whack 'round-up' and if your grass weeds are shadowed by big foliage then that is an easy option missed.

Sheep?

 

[Clive]

I'm a bit cautious of crops that will be a mass of dense foliage when you want to kill it off in the spring. A spring crop gives a good opportunity to kill off problem grass weeds with a full whack 'round-up' and if your grass weeds are shadowed by big foliage then that is an easy option missed.

i used to have this worry, the solution is spraying a few days after drilling as the rolling caused by the drill opens the cover crop

 

[dontknowanything]

i used to have this worry, the solution is spraying a few days after drilling as the rolling caused by the drill opens the cover crop

I think it is a very valid concern in the autumn, I don't see it as such a problem in the spring.

 

[clbarclay]

How are the benefits of the different plots going to be measured?

 

[Badshot]

I'll go with the green farm seeds radish mix thanks. Interesting to see the costs involved with some of these cover crops. That radish mix would suit me quite well, bit of sheep grazing and ought not keep the ground wet in the spring.

 

[Rebeccaseeds]

What if as a grower you could get away from thinking of it is a crop you spend money on for no financial return..... but instead looked at them as a soil improvement product..... bare with me! For example if you have Sugar Beet, or Potatoes or other vegetable crops and these are being affected by a range of nematodes and various crop rotation diseases, and if your chemical man could offer you something with a broad spectrum of beneficial effects wouldn't you try it? If the same product had excellent officially approved resistance against BCN and Root Knot Nematode as well as the ability to suppress Stubby Root Knot Nematode? And so on as a tool against Curly Ring Spot, take all break, reducing impact of Rhizoctonia and Pythium etc etc etc. Thoughts please, constructive only!