- Location
- East yorks
So finished harvest last night.
So the main question is did the drill do what i wanted. Yes absolutely, however have learnt a few things.
Firstly Spring 2021 was drier than 2020 for March and April to mid May, which i wasn;t expecting but we had much better crop stands with less rain.
On medium land its pretty bomb proof.
On heavy land I went a bit early with one field of barley and should have let it dry a bit longer and gone later in April, it also takes a bit more managing.
On heavy land in spring it can go a bit deep with seed as you get very little tilth behind the leg as the soil hasn't dried much yet so it blows to the bottom of the slot so i would go shallower than planned.
Slugs can still be a pain in the butt, they got into the spring wheat and hollowed a bit and also had a go at some spring barley where it was very dry. So need to keep a bit closer eye on this.
It is much more moisture sensitive/compaction senstive where we have water issues, I was hoping getting a crop into heavy land and leaving it would get it sorted but i have had to use the above metcalf legs to give it some assistance. Not really a drill issue but a function of having to very wet years and not a real good soil cracking dry at the right time of year. I am also adding a few bits of extra drains into areas at risk.
Will be using it for all winter crops this year, including beans and some vetch and black oat cover crops ahead of spring barley.
Will probably post a few pics in here but hopefuly this years journey has given a few people ideas and things to watch out for, and how to have a go at direct drilling for a relatively small budget.
So the main question is did the drill do what i wanted. Yes absolutely, however have learnt a few things.
Firstly Spring 2021 was drier than 2020 for March and April to mid May, which i wasn;t expecting but we had much better crop stands with less rain.
On medium land its pretty bomb proof.
On heavy land I went a bit early with one field of barley and should have let it dry a bit longer and gone later in April, it also takes a bit more managing.
On heavy land in spring it can go a bit deep with seed as you get very little tilth behind the leg as the soil hasn't dried much yet so it blows to the bottom of the slot so i would go shallower than planned.
Slugs can still be a pain in the butt, they got into the spring wheat and hollowed a bit and also had a go at some spring barley where it was very dry. So need to keep a bit closer eye on this.
It is much more moisture sensitive/compaction senstive where we have water issues, I was hoping getting a crop into heavy land and leaving it would get it sorted but i have had to use the above metcalf legs to give it some assistance. Not really a drill issue but a function of having to very wet years and not a real good soil cracking dry at the right time of year. I am also adding a few bits of extra drains into areas at risk.
Will be using it for all winter crops this year, including beans and some vetch and black oat cover crops ahead of spring barley.
Will probably post a few pics in here but hopefuly this years journey has given a few people ideas and things to watch out for, and how to have a go at direct drilling for a relatively small budget.
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