Dale vs Min Till

[dontknowanything]

I'll duplicate this thread which existed on the old forum. Next door fields, ex peas ,one direct with Dale, other had a carrier then CO over it. Both Oakley, same seed rate, Dale done a few days earlier. Same chemicals, fert etc. Field on left is DD

 

[dontknowanything]

My comment would be that the DD plants look a little further on than the others.

 

[Clive]

The dd field looks the better of the two so far

Could just be the slightly earlier drill date however ?

Any cost comparisons between to 2 fields ? Ie how much has dd saved here ?

 

[dontknowanything]

literally everything identical apart from establishment (so far)

 

[dontknowanything]

Sneaky one there Clive, you changed your post after I replied!

It could be the earlier drill date, although it was very dry when the DD stuff went in, and it was a bit too deep, so it probbaly didn't emerge as fast it it could have done.

I would estimate that the Dale took 7l/ha to pull, and the other field would have been 11-12l/ha.

£3/ha in fuel is obviously not much, but then there are the other costs which I need not elaborate on

 

[dontknowanything]

The min till field yielded slightly more than the DD (8.58 vs 8.40), but this was due to the min till having some heavier bits at the bottom that weren't as drought affected. If you put the yield maps next to each other, it just looks like one field.

So no benefit to cultivating in this instance.

 

[Badshot]

My experience this year has been my DD gallant has been astounding, my min till cordiale was just about acceptable, and my DD solstice is yet to be cut but if possible it will all be DD this year including the rape which I will be drilling tomorrow.

 

[SilliamWhale]

My experience this year has been my DD gallant has been astounding, my min till cordiale was just about acceptable, and my DD solstice is yet to be cut but if possible it will all be DD this year including the rape which I will be drilling tomorrow.

I always say DD is generally there or thereabouts. Sometimes more, sometimes less - barring a man made cock up which people sometimes blame DD for.

There are problems with some trials you read in the FW or other places which hampers it: eg using a vaderstad in the trial, doing too much second/third cereals, poor drill maintenance, late seeding etc. but if you get everything right for your own farm I don't see how it can be beaten cost wise.

 

[tw15]

Spot on dd mainly needs patience and attention to detail and an understanding of soils etc . Do it right and it pays dividends ,do it wrong and it can bite you in the arse .

 

[SilliamWhale]

Spot on dd mainly needs patience and attention to detail and an understanding of soils etc . Do it right and it pays dividends ,do it wrong and it can bite you in the arse .

This year my DD wheat is coming in at between 3.5-4t/acre in most fields so far. This is as good as it gets for me. Granted the weather in July made it but the fact that it was DD rather than tilled makes no difference for a good yielding crop providing you get your plant populations and soil right etc. But I won't lie, on another block of land which I find more difficult I planted WW too late (October 16th) and it almost all drowned and I did redrill which is in affect a failure - but it was my doing, I was simply too late drilling for DD in that years circumstances.