F%%kin docks

Dock seed is supposed to be able to lay dormant for up to 70 years iirc, so anything you will do will only ever reduce the numbers a bit. It will help of course, but if you want the pasture to be completely clear you will have to keep at ‘em until long after you’re gone.:(
My neighbour burnt off two fields joining me and direct drilled swedes for glastir contract. They were fifty odd year old keys but clean. Following the swedes he power harrowed it and put down to grass. You have never seen so many docks in your life,there wasn't one before and he's still trying to get rid of them three years later.
 

Agrivator

Member
Thrust is effective ( 2-4 D plus dicamba) and not too expensive, although it might check the grass and clover a bit, especially at the full rate.

Docks do have a benefit. Their deep roots bring trace elements to the surface, and these are available to the grass and clover when the docks die off.
 
My neighbour burnt off two fields joining me and direct drilled swedes for glastir contract. They were fifty odd year old keys but clean. Following the swedes he power harrowed it and put down to grass. You have never seen so many docks in your life,there wasn't one before and he's still trying to get rid of them three years later.

Hence the importance of early spraying in new leys. They are so easy to clear up it's a joke.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Hence the importance of early spraying in new leys. They are so easy to clear up it's a joke.

I think I have sprayed every reseed I’ve done here in recent years with Spruce/Clovermaster (2-4DB) andTriad. Due to previous management I always get a mass of docks, thistles & fathen coming from the seed bank disturbed, even where. It is DD’ed. That, and then rotational grazing with sheep, seems to keep on top of them, enough so a bit of spot spraying of thistles is enough.

Where the docks have become established (one field had been sublet to a dairy farmer for maize, plastered in slurry, then reseeded), Pastor seems the most reliable remedy, but obviously does for clover.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
My neighbour burnt off two fields joining me and direct drilled swedes for glastir contract. They were fifty odd year old keys but clean. Following the swedes he power harrowed it and put down to grass. You have never seen so many docks in your life,there wasn't one before and he's still trying to get rid of them three years later.
He didn't put any slurry on . That is the Dock Carrier
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I find weeds aren’t a problem. They’re a symptom of a problem....

They can be a symptom of having a healthy soil, with an abundance of worms, making a perfect breeding ground for moles. Every molehill brings up weed seeds from the seed bank, a deposits them in a fine seed bed which has nicely smothered out competitive grasses that would otherwise have crowded those seedlings out.

Here they are a symptom of me not catching enough of the furry little troublemakers.:(
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
My neighbour burnt off two fields joining me and direct drilled swedes for glastir contract. They were fifty odd year old keys but clean. Following the swedes he power harrowed it and put down to grass. You have never seen so many docks in your life,there wasn't one before and he's still trying to get rid of them three years later.

Did he have many weeds in the swedes? The biggest problem with Glastir unsprayed roots is that the weeds get a year of unfettered seeding time to top up the seed bank for another 70 years.
I’m taking the view that there aren’t many herbicides that are effective in swede crops anyway, so might as well take the £200/ac from Glastir and accept the weeds.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
An old saying about a good farm was that you could tie your horse to a thistle or dock

At a nearby small village show they still have livestock classes, as well as classes for various crops, bales, etc. They have a class for the ‘best Dock’ too. I dare say a few will have been grown in buckets of muck, specially for the job though.
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Did he have many weeds in the swedes? The biggest problem with Glastir unsprayed roots is that the weeds get a year of unfettered seeding time to top up the seed bank for another 70 years.
I’m taking the view that there aren’t many herbicides that are effective in swede crops anyway, so might as well take the £200/ac from Glastir and accept the weeds.
If you haven't got a weed free seed bed I found swedes a waste of time. Not sure if you can still get the pre em spray but even that found it hard to cope with a large seed bank . Towards the end of growing them I found the best way was to prepare a seedbed and leave it for a few weeks then burn it with roundup and drill . No use if you can't use spray of course
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
If you haven't got a weed free seed bed I found swedes a waste of time. Not sure if you can still get the pre em spray but even that found it hard to cope with a large seed bank . Towards the end of growing them I found the best way was to prepare a seedbed and leave it for a few weeks then burn it with roundup and drill . No use if you can't use spray of course

That’s what I do now (Glastir allows use of Glyphosate pre-drilling). I’ve always found that a stale seedbed is more effective than pre-em sprays anyway, as well as considerably cheaper.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Putting brassicas into old pasture you are nearly guaranteed to disturb a seed bank containing something nasty. Just pre-em them and be done with it.

My previous (serviced) agronomists used to push that approach for some reason too.? Pre-em sprays for swedes are expensive, and not particularly effective ime. The last time I used them I did half a field with pre-em, the other left underaged (for Glastir). I couldn’t see any difference in the two sides of the field later, so haven’t used them since.
 
My previous (serviced) agronomists used to push that approach for some reason too.? Pre-em sprays for swedes are expensive, and not particularly effective ime. The last time I used them I did half a field with pre-em, the other left underaged (for Glastir). I couldn’t see any difference in the two sides of the field later, so haven’t used them since.

What product was used? No need to do anything too clever. They won't cover everything, but should keep some of it at bay long enough for the crop to get going.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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