Fertilizing winter cereal

[thorpe]

Eurgh and there's me nervous about splodging about with my TM and the 900s on.
How much of that will get to the plant.

you wouldn't een think about it , woulld you

 

[davidroberts30]

you wouldn't een think about it , woulld you

I wouldn't

 

[Renaultman]

you wouldn't een think about it , woulld you

No

 

[DrWazzock]

Done a bit more but it’s too wet underfoot so packed up for the weekend. Mullering the tramlines, but have done the really urgent stuff. Still plenty to do though.

 

[teslacoils]

Sitting tight here until next week

 

[masseyjack]

Done all the wheat thats worth keeping this morning, travelled surprisingly well even on the wettest parts that have stood water most of the winter

 

[Zippy768]

Wb and osr done beginning of week, before it went v wet again.
Wheats are holding tight atm, most desperate piece is on heaviest wettest ground

 

[Brisel]

Doing osr final dose today. Wet in places though.

 

[PI Stsker]

Making it snow today, travelling alright…(ish)…. Not needed a chain yet but won’t be looking forward to combining as much with some of the ruts I’ve left!

 

[T Hectares]

Doing osr final dose today. Wet in places though.

Doing ours today, travelling surprisingly well on the boys land

 

[Zippy768]

Doing ours today, travelling surprisingly well on the boys land View attachment 1170197View attachment 1170198

Final dose?

 

[T Hectares]

Final dose?

Yes, 180 kg/ha N total
Had 5t/ha of broiler muck in the autumn

 

[Renaultman]

Done a bit more but it’s too wet underfoot so packed up for the weekend. Mullering the tramlines, but have done the really urgent stuff. Still plenty to do though.

Same here 3 fields left, luckily they don't look too bad.

 

[DrWazzock]

It’s not a pleasant job anymore. Driving over sickly crops, churning up the tramlines, timings late.

 

[Wombat]

It’s just the driving through the huge areas of mouldy sealed slop without a single plant that’s depressing.

 

[bobk]

Mine has been on 3 weeks , think I've spunked another grand or 2 .

 

[teslacoils]

Ah the sound of a downpour. Sigh.

 

[Midlands Farmer]

Interesting. Sooner yes. I am finding grain yields are good but straw amounts less. Have never been an advocate of RB209. Following those levels actually reduces yields here, even conventionally. Presumably because we have gone over the response curve.


Having farmed not far from you, I agree with your figures for where you are. Though mine was Beccles series Clay and opposed to your Hanslope (IIRC?). Might even put 240 on the wheat and all of the 100 on spring cereals. Especially if conventional rather than DD.

But here there is not the same yield potential unless we get dry years. So I go 180 on 1st wheats and 180 on 2nd winter barleys. Wouldn’t be averse to cutting them to nearer 150 sometimes. More than that and it will go flat!
This farm doesn’t suffer from drought even on the lighter land. It is like it sweats moisture up from below.

I know what you mean about listening to consultants. They don’t know your farm like you do.
You have got to listen to your own instincts as well as them to come up with the right solution for the farm and you.


I don’t believe there is any land that cannot or will not DD. You just have got to get the timing and cropping right for each bit of it. Though, without doubt lighter land is much easier to DD.
You often get some beginners luck, but on the heavier stuff, might hit a wall about year 3 that you must get through.
If you get to year 3 on your heaviest land and suffer a wet winter like we just have had, you have to grit your teeth and get through it. Look instead at the heavier stuff you have got in year 5 to have something to aim for.
Therefore with heavy soils, I would never advocate converting the whole farm in year 1. Do it over 3 years to avoid that year 3 wall all happening at once.
As for Fertiliser amounts make you own mind up based on intuition.
But I suggest keeping seed rate up the higher end of the scale, especially so on the heavy ground.

Yep I’m in yr 3-5 of DD as I staggered starting and it’s not all been easy, I started in a terribly wet yet wrongly and this year is definitely a challenge. Interestingly my neighbour had a 2 yr head start which were good dry years and his ground looks brilliant! However I’m a mix of medium and heavy ground and I could travel last weekend with 3 passes (N,S and a spray) a few wet spots but generally not much rutting.

 

[Two Tone]

Yep I’m in yr 3-5 of DD as I staggered starting and it’s not all been easy, I started in a terribly wet yet wrongly and this year is definitely a challenge. Interestingly my neighbour had a 2 yr head start which were good dry years and his ground looks brilliant! However I’m a mix of medium and heavy ground and I could travel last weekend with 3 passes (N,S and a spray) a few wet spots but generally not much rutting.

Yes, despite those DD’d crops on the heavier land looking like crap in comparison to the medium a lighter ones, at least we could travel on them though the puddles (lakes more like!) despite Biblical amounts of rainfall only a few days beforehand.

Certainly none of the problems like Andrew Ward has suffered on land that was disturbed by cultivation.

But I do envy him the good crops he has on the vast majority of his farm.

 

[CPF]

Has anyone made a mess yet?