Drilling rape

[teslacoils]

Locals all holding off drilling osr.

 

[Norfolk Olly]

Started irrigating stubbles Saturday, got a couple of bits drilled today into a good bit of moisture.

 

[Good stuff]

No rain here yet and no rape drilled yet until it does

 

[nxy]

The only ever total crop failure on my farm was osr sown with that type of establishment I’ve used the combi drill ever since

About 1 in 3 of our osr crops have been failures since I have been in France. When the weather is against you here its really against you. I have had years when we have been stuck drilling rape its so wet and years like this one when you wonder if its ever going to rain. However when our osr is good it can produce the best margin on the farm so we do it cheap and put up with the failures.

 

[nxy]

Those that have been drilling or spinning a bit on, anybody sprayed any herbicides and if so what?

At the moment unless anyone knows any different there is no metazachlore or mixtures of it to be had any where in France so anybody "waiting and seeing if it comes up" might have a surprise when they speak to their supplier.

 

[redbaron]

100mm rain overnight. Rape drilling might have to wait a tad longer!

 

[redbaron]

...and 160mm reported 3 miles away.

 

[thorpe]

...and 160mm reported 3 miles away.

this is developing into the weve had more than you thread!

 

[teslacoils]

...and 160mm reported 3 miles away.

That's crazy. It's a quarter of a years rain.

 

[Flat 10]

Though I feel that if offered I’d take it like that now to avoid a wet autumn But I guess that much at once does nothing much good.

 

[BenAdamsAgri]

Neighbour did 50 acres yesterday before 6mm rain, holding off here

 

[2wheels]

It’s a casino. We disced and rolled down tight. Quite nice crumby tilth but dry as. Then drilled trying to get it an inch down which isn’t easy to get right. Was power harrowing but it floated the straw back up and crested a mat and left no crumb structure which I think causes a bad slump if it rains a lot in the autumn. Not as level as I’d like but it will have to do. Home saved seed so still time for another go later or spray off and drill wheat. If it doesn’t rain significantly next week then I will have wasted my time but if it does rain I might get away with it.
Everything nowadays seems to be about taking a gamble and thinking of the step after if it fails while keeping costs down.

daughter's house backs on to the rugby pitch. the grass was sprayed off, bulldozer leveled it then it was cultivated down and resown with an opico type grass seed harrow and rolled.all this was done this very dry summer and the soil is pure sand. much to my amazement the bloody stuff is growing and was greening up before the drop of rain it got.

 

[teslacoils]

Dare say it would have gone in before this rain. But I'd rather spray any crap off with roundup and drill in a fortnight.