Farming peat soils

[Dudara]

Hello everyone.

I'm a farmer from Latvia and I have acquired 140ha of arable land that is 80%-ish peat soils. Did all the tests, luckily pH is good, doesn't need a lot of anything to add to it.

BUT, I already had a small field of 13ha of peat soils and one thing I realized is that growing wheat/oats/barley etc. there is completely and utterly impossible, either due to winter crops not being able to withstand the cold -20...-30c winters or from them developing absolutely every single type of illness imaginable making it too expensive to treat and cheaper to just chop. Also, this is why I got the land for an absolute bargain, due to a large farmer who only grows wheat, barley and rape, not being able to make any of it work. Grass grows absolutely perfectly there, but the issue with peat soils is that if you rake it, you just get peat everywhere, so the bales are half useless anyhow. Only good for grazing, but these fields are way too far to be doing that.

So my question is this, I'm in talks with a company that buys seeds, and I'd love to grow mustard seeds for them, is it actually possible to grow them on peat soil? What should I look out for, or what kind of other tests should I do on the soil?
And if not, what would actually thrive on this type of soil?

Any advice would be extremely helpful,
Cheers!

 

[Flat 10]

Manganese and consolidation are key for cereals. Root crops (potatoes, carrots, onions and sugar beet ) are commonly grown. Have you considered spring wheat? Not much mustard is grown in the U.K. but I believe it was commonly grown on the fens.

 

[Dudara]

Manganese and consolidation are key for cereals. Root crops (potatoes, carrots, onions and sugar beet ) are commonly grown. Have you considered spring wheat? Not much mustard is grown in the U.K. but I believe it was commonly grown on the fens.

Yes, will be adding manganese, just hard to come by on the spot here, had to order it and now waiting for it to arrive.


Sadly with all cereal crops they develop a staggering amount of diseases, from yellow rust, brown rust, to just grey mould, black spots on the wheat head etc. It's mostly due to the fact that peat by itself is a soil that is "alive", it is like a living organism, so bacteria, fungi and everything under the sun loves it.

As I said, a farmer that has 6k hectares of land couldn't make it work with cereal crops, so I doubt I'd be able to. So looking at alternatives to grow, potatoes would be good, but if it rains a lot the soil does get wet on the edges, so I can only plant potatoes in the middle portion of each field, still leaves a lot of land free.

Carrots, onions and sugar beets aren't an option because the machinery to harvest and plant it costs just way too much to justify the purchase.

 

[Curt]

How well is it drained?

Set some wireworm traps before trying to grow any root crops, wireworm are likely to be a problem in peat from past experiences.

 

[Will Blackburn]

Should grow good maize.

 

[Lowland1]

It should grow good mustard. Oats are probably a good bet. All were grown on our fen during the post war years before liming and better varieties of cereals became commonplace. The only thing is how different the climate might be compared with Lincolnshire. I'd guess it's a bit cooler.

 

[Dudara]

How well is it drained?

Set some wireworm traps before trying to grow any root crops, wireworm are likely to be a problem in peat from past experiences.

Very well drained, as long as the beavers aren't acting up, it's nice and dry.

 

[Dudara]

It should grow good mustard. Oats are probably a good bet. All were grown on our fen during the post war years before liming and better varieties of cereals became commonplace. The only thing is how different the climate might be compared with Lincolnshire. I'd guess it's a bit cooler.

Well for summer crops, it's warmer here. We just have that very distinct winter period, otherwise it's nice.
But thanks, I was worried about mustard not growing properly there. It's a well paying contract, so I really wanted to do fulfill it.

Actually tried oats and it's hit or miss, yields weren't all that great, but at least I could harvest it one year and the next year (had planted clover in between), it developed yellow rust, then brown rust and then (can't remember the name) but the oat heads developed black spots, treated everything, lost money.

 

[alomy75]

Manganese and consolidation are key for cereals. Root crops (potatoes, carrots, onions and sugar beet ) are commonly grown. Have you considered spring wheat? Not much mustard is grown in the U.K. but I believe it was commonly grown on the fens.

Some still grown around Whittlesey

 

[Flatlander]

I’d be tempted to try soybeans. Make sure they have a good iron clorosis tolerance. Only woukd need a flex head for your combine to harvest them. Biggest input would be seed if gmo. Plant mid may or 10 degrees soil temp and hope no frost until mid September. Sell into the protein markets

 

[Spencer]

Stick to spring crops.. Spring Wheat, Maize? Soybeans?

 

[Villein]

I remeber reading about the idea to re wet peat soils and grow "paludiculture" crops?

More of a theory than a practical reality?

Paludiculture: Wetter farming

It’s a term that’s creeping into the lexicon of researchers and industry alike, but what is paludiculture, why has it suddenly popped up...

www.cpm-magazine.co.uk

 

[Sheep]

What is the SOM %?

 

[TelesnaAg]

Is there a market for hay??

Ant...

 

[deleted user 837354]

Broad spectrum soil tests may be worthwhile to determine what, if any nutrient deficiencies are in play. This may drive cropping decisions.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Alfalfa/Lucerne?