First cover crop management

[Try to succeed]

Hi everyone. I’m curious to know opinions on how you’d manage this cover crop for entry into wheat this autumn. This is 3.5 ha of failed osr in a 16ha field. The mix was a home brew of spring barley/peas/linseed/millet/phacelia/sprinkle of mustard. Barley and peas through fert spinner and the rest through seeder whilst discing in with trio. Most millet/peas/linseed not there due to pigeons/drought/broadcasting. Some of the cover is very good, some is barely there. This is V high mag clay so therefore worried about direct drilling into it but I’m trying to explore new options. How would you manage this to get wheat in the ground? Tools at your disposal are trio with tillso ultralights, cultipress, Horsch CO with choice of 1 or 2.5 openers, freeflow. Something worth mentioning is the phacelia and barley aren’t far off seeding in the best bits. The drought really did affect the worst areas.
My original idea was to direct drill with the CO, however, this is where I played around with the new to me drill with the 2.5 openers and burst out clods the size of my size 12 boots. I am aware I mentioned cultipress and trio in the dd forum... ?
Thanks for any input

 

[SilliamWhale]

I've drilled into very thick osr regrowth a few times with success. So personally I'd be tempted to disc drill it if you can find something

 

[Try to succeed]

I've drilled into very thick osr regrowth a few times with success. So personally I'd be tempted to disc drill it if you can find something

I have a neighbour with a 750 but was hoping to use my own kit if possible to see if it can be done on a budget with the machinery I own. Are you on clay with yours?

 

[SilliamWhale]

I have a neighbour with a 750 but was hoping to use my own kit if possible to see if it can be done on a budget with the machinery I own. Are you on clay with yours?

Not clay.

Worth remembering its a lot easier to close the slots on the green and I think in the autumn you won't get any negative vibes from the decaying stuff like the spring

 

[cquick]

If you're concerned about the seeding potential then a light graze would set it back, or maybe go over with a topper 12-18" off the ground? Really only the barley has the potential to become a weed in wheat, phacelia is very easily taken out.

Or maybe go through with the drill now and add some peas back in, and set the seeding components back a notch too. Would the clods weather down over the coming months?

With a splash of rain and another 2-3 months growth on it you could end up with a whole lot of biomass there! A tine drill could block easily unless the closing wheel is right next to the tine to drag trash through, e.g. Dale or Amazone Primera.
Perhaps a light discing would be in order just to chop the cover, then drill with your lowest disturbance points. Apply glyphosate + pre-em a couple of days after drilling.
A lot depends on how much growth you get, and how wet it is come drilling to make a precise call right now.

 

[Try to succeed]

If you're concerned about the seeding potential then a light graze would set it back, or maybe go over with a topper 12-18" off the ground? Really only the barley has the potential to become a weed in wheat, phacelia is very easily taken out.

Or maybe go through with the drill now and add some peas back in, and set the seeding components back a notch too. Would the clods weather down over the coming months?

With a splash of rain and another 2-3 months growth on it you could end up with a whole lot of biomass there! A tine drill could block easily unless the closing wheel is right next to the tine to drag trash through, e.g. Dale or Amazone Primera.
Perhaps a light discing would be in order just to chop the cover, then drill with your lowest disturbance points. Apply glyphosate + pre-em a couple of days after drilling.
A lot depends on how much growth you get, and how wet it is come drilling to make a precise call right now.

Im more concerned about how to get the seed in the ground without ripping lots of clay out. The clods would weather down over months but would release black grass. On this clay I was thinking destroy it fairly early and disc it very shallow so it gets some tilth weathering down. Wondering whether to view it as purely carbon capture. See if I change my mind in a couple months!

 

[cquick]

Im more concerned about how to get the seed in the ground without ripping lots of clay out. The clods would weather down over months but would release black grass. On this clay I was thinking destroy it fairly early and disc it very shallow so it gets some tilth weathering down. Wondering whether to view it as purely carbon capture. See if I change my mind in a couple months!

If they release and germinate bg between now and drilling, that's a good thing surely? Or would the clods persist until after you get the wheat in?