I bet there’s an awful lot of farms in the country where the best field on the place is the one next to the steadingSounds like my father. He just tips it in nearest field to the steading.
Fertiliser Price Tracker
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What a great program that was!
Hence why the strongest fields are generally next to the yard!Sounds like my father. He just tips it in nearest field to the steading.
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
And low long does this fertility last?
- Location
- somerset
our most productive field, is adjacent to the buildings, and lagoon, it is on 3 crops, in 2 years, rotation, also happens to be the field that has the least fert.
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Fields next steading also generally left in grass, as there handy for putting calving cows out near house..
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Interesting question. Depends on soil type I think.
A lot of young farmers came home from harper and cirencester and pushed dad aside and told him to get rid of cows and go all arable. So they can go skiing and shooting in winter. They've been mining these reserves left from cows and grass in rotation. Or are they all gone?
Don’t forget cheap nutrients came in a bag up until recently.
- Location
- somerset
definitely a time limited advantage
that time, can be lengthened if you use methods to protect your soil structure, min-til or dd methods. That sh1t is broken down, by the biology in the soil, the better that is, the more valuable your sh1t is.
- Location
- Perthshire (It's a big place!)
Anything with cow, horse or stackyard in the nameI bet there’s an awful lot of farms in the country where the best field on the place is the one next to the steading
I was hoping Harry's farm was going to run something on this a few months ago . He had done samples etc on fields that had been chopped and others straw baled by a local farmer but I don't think he ever went back to it .
Imo chopped straw out combine every year is better than baled for say 4 years and then one year it gets dung , if you have the dung to spread fields more regular then different .
I do agree as soon as a baler goes in , the dung coming back at some point gets important .
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
With cost of fuel to chop straw and additional N needed to break it down, is it worth chopping straw?
Is the damage done by balers and loss of time holding up other operations is worth dropping straw?
I think in reality a bit of both depending on how it fits in with following crops
- Location
- Shropshire
Having read a bit of history about our local area it seemed that the arable acreage would fluctuate dramatically throughout the 1800s. Good prices would see more arable and when the ground was exhausted it would go back to pasture for ten years or so and then be ploughed up again during the next spike.Of those farms with muck available, what did they do with it before someone came up with this revolutionary new idea of applying it to arable ground?
What is the trade off? You don't get owt for nowt.
Nostalgia outbreak.
Dad used to cart all manure out in a transporter box ( one which could be tipped via faff diddling about with a telescopic top link ) and dump it in the field. After some decades 3/4 of the field was covered ( mostly with nettles )
Various contractors turned up with 2wd loader tractors but failed miserably to load and spread the stuff. Then hallelujah, a team turned up with a fleet of Zetor Crystals ( one with loader ), and rotospreaders and did the job in half a day.
Dad used to cart all manure out in a transporter box ( one which could be tipped via faff diddling about with a telescopic top link ) and dump it in the field. After some decades 3/4 of the field was covered ( mostly with nettles )
Various contractors turned up with 2wd loader tractors but failed miserably to load and spread the stuff. Then hallelujah, a team turned up with a fleet of Zetor Crystals ( one with loader ), and rotospreaders and did the job in half a day.
How much fuel is used baling, carting, stacking, re loading straw out again ? My contractor managed to use over 100 L baling 130 round bales...............
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Costs not generally incurred by the arable though if selling in the bout.
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness
i ploughed up perm grazing fields not to get rid of cows but because i wanted to start rotating the grazing with the grain, yields definately extraordinary the first few years will be interesting to see how long for
Bossfarmer
Member
- Location
- between Perth and Inverness