Direct/Strip-till drilling photo gallery

[franklin]

Oilseed rape today.

 

[d williams]

Oilseed rape and forage rye

 

[eagleye]

graham wheat drilled middle october after potatoes 134kg/ha

 

[Shutesy]

graham wheat drilled middle october after potatoes 134kg/haView attachment 462294

Quite a low seed rate for mid-October? Looks grand though. What was the drill?

 

[eagleye]

lovely dry loam soil, just grubbed with joker/tg bar after potatoes. drilled with Claydon hybrid. Next spud fields drilled a week later at 150kg/ha Reflection.
Noticed Graham up more quickly than Reflection. we did plots in the Graham field of 8 varieties, 4 of which came up quickly, 4 more slowly. this is how we know it is slower. If drilling again would drill Reflect first and Graham last to even things out. This is the Reflection @ 150kg

 

[mikep]

Fairly interesting photo of a poor shaded bit of wet land in a corner. Main bane of cold wet land over winter here are meadow grass and moss. Sprayed headland with Orient and it is giving the mg a kick but also the moss. Never seen that before probably because usually spray whole field.

 

[green giant]

DTS second wheat, taken today.

 

[E_B]

Belfry hybrid barley on its way. Mzuri drilled into maize stubble, Oct 12th. Cows grazing the last patch of stubble turnips in the background, broadcast into last year's standing barley crop.

 

[Feldspar]

Generally rather unhappy with my zero-tilled 2nd wheat. Conditions couldn't have been better for drilling. Have decided only going to try again if straw is removed or drilled very early.

On the plus side, Claydon drilled OSR doing well (probably too thick here).

Was extremely unhappy with zero-tilled barley, but, despite still being a bit patchy, the plants that are there look happier than some of our ploughed and min-tilled stuff.

 

[SilliamWhale]

@Feldspar - your learning the hard way! But don't be too cross as we've all had fields like that wheat before.

To me that looks a bit of a poor chop on the winter barley field - can you not get a better chopper? I see @Belvoir Juicer had to import himself a better chopper REDEKOP or something - not sure if thats an option.

I personally think you should get in touch with Forage Trader and sell straw for anything involving two winter cereals at least for 3-4 years until your a bit better practiced - after that you may be able to set the drill a bit deeper etc. or get a better feel for setting up the drill. Or just use a Carrier for a few years.

Also why not try to keep some second wheat seed back for farm saved and have a go at drilling after christmas if you get the weather. Straw may have got a bit more brittle by then.

The important thing to remember is that you do have plants there though and some look quite good - so its not that the drill cannot plant the seed its the stage before that tricky

 

[Feldspar]

@Feldspar - your learning the hard way! But don't be too cross as we've all had fields like that wheat before.

To me that looks a bit of a poor chop on the winter barley field - can you not get a better chopper? I see @Belvoir Juicer had to import himself a better chopper REDEKOP or something - not sure if thats an option.

I personally think you should get in touch with Forage Trader and sell straw for anything involving two winter cereals at least for 3-4 years until your a bit better practiced - after that you may be able to set the drill a bit deeper etc. or get a better feel for setting up the drill. Or just use a Carrier for a few years.

Also why not try to keep some second wheat seed back for farm saved and have a go at drilling after christmas if you get the weather. Straw may have got a bit more brittle by then.

The important thing to remember is that you do have plants there though and some look quite good - so its not that the drill cannot plant the seed its the stage before that tricky

That's meant to be the better block of 2nd wheat too! We've got one very backward and thin block. I did photograph one of the less than average bits of the field.

In the bits of the field where there was no straw the crop looks very good and the plants quite happy. This gives me hope. Spring barley straw was a nightmare to spread this year. Any wind and the result was poor.

The problem with our Terrastar is that it doesn't really mix the straw in that well and just leaves a thatch on top, which is almost worse than if it's standing upright.

The straw doesn't seem to disappear very fast at the moment, even over winter. Probably a sign of not overly active soil, or a very heavy fungicide program in winter cereals.

Baling traffic does worry me, especially if committed to before you know how wet the fields will be around harvest time. Then you have all the stacks falling over, compacted areas of fields, unreliable contractors etc.

 

[SilliamWhale]

That's meant to be the better block of 2nd wheat too! We've got one very backward and thin block. I did photograph one of the less than average bits of the field.

In the bits of the field where there was no straw the crop looks very good and the plants quite happy. This gives me hope. Spring barley straw was a nightmare to spread this year. Any wind and the result was poor.

The problem with our Terrastar is that it doesn't really mix the straw in that well and just leaves a thatch on top, which is almost worse than if it's standing upright.

The straw doesn't seem to disappear very fast at the moment, even over winter. Probably a sign of not overly active soil, or a very heavy fungicide program in winter cereals.

Baling traffic does worry me, especially if committed to before you know how wet the fields will be around harvest time. Then you have all the stacks falling over, compacted areas of fields, unreliable contractors etc.

Honestly I don't think you should worry about baling traffic - if its dry enough to combine its dry enough to bale usually but I take your point about the other issues. I can't believe you can't get reasonable money for spring barley straw and get it cleared quick by a keen operator though - you must have loads of acres for someone.

Don't get the terrastar thing - never did personally.

 

[Spud]

Wizard beans drilled into a lightly (very lightly) dynadrived wheat stubble with a Kockerling tined drill with legs in front. Pic last week.

The drill that put them in on the other pic is actually sowing a cover in another field in the pic, but I dont have one of it sowing the beans

 

[Feldspar]

Honestly I don't think you should worry about baling traffic - if its dry enough to combine its dry enough to bale usually but I take your point about the other issues. I can't believe you can't get reasonable money for spring barley straw and get it cleared quick by a keen operator though - you must have loads of acres for someone.

Don't get the terrastar thing - never did personally.

Two years ago we made sizeable ruts and compaction combining at fairly normal grain moistures. Rained a lot at the beginning of August and the land never dried up after that.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Two years ago we made sizeable ruts and compaction combining at fairly normal grain moistures. Rained a lot at the beginning of August and the land never dried up after that.

Tilled ground?

 

[Feldspar]

Tilled ground?

Yes, admittedly the particular fields I'm thinking of were ploughed.

Some of the better bits of zero-till 2nd wheat (which are still more patchy than I'd like):

 

[Shutesy]

The straw doesn't seem to disappear very fast at the moment, even over winter. Probably a sign of not overly active soil, or a very heavy fungicide program in winter cereals.

A concern of mine as well, often see pictures or people mention that nearly all of there chopped material and some stubble has gone by the springtime, pretty much all of our stubble and chopped straw/chaff is still there and a nice layer on the surface keeping everything wet and sticky. As you say I think our soil is not active enough, to much ploughing and powerharrowing the past 30 years! I think we need to import some more OM in the form of FYM, compost etc but I can't find a supplier close enough to make transport costs feasible!

 

[SilliamWhale]

A concern of mine as well, often see pictures or people mention that nearly all of there chopped material and some stubble has gone by the springtime, pretty much all of our stubble and chopped straw/chaff is still there and a nice layer on the surface keeping everything wet and sticky. As you say I think our soil is not active enough, to much ploughing and powerharrowing the past 30 years! I think we need to import some more OM in the form of FYM, compost etc but I can't find a supplier close enough to make transport costs feasible!

Have a look in May lots will have digested by then

 

[Feldspar]

Have a look in May lots will have digested by then

Yes, but want to have drilled spring crops by then!

 

[SilliamWhale]

Yes, but want to have drilled spring crops by then!

Yes sure but lots of it will have gone before then and also it goes a lot more brittle doesn't it - once its had a few months of water and winter on it