Groundswell 2018

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I’d urge anyone with staff on the farm to take them too. Conservation Ag and soil heath is such a big subject, ever alien to those who have been judged all their lives by how brown they can make a field, that unless all on the farm understand the direction of the journey success will be harder to achieve.

I would agree but would also add that maybe a lot of the more academic speakers might be a bit much to hold attention for a lot of operators

Maybe a good idea to get some existing operators to speak to such an audience to share exkereience at a practical level ?
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Can't imagine it would be cheap though. Those single disc row units are something like $3000 a row here, but we run 13 - 15" wide rows generally . . .
Obviously everything else is SLY

Here's a link to Boss Agriculture if anyone interested

http://www.bosseng.com.au/ag/aghome.html

I have been promoting their gauge wheel / steel scraper ring for some time for JD 750 style units :)

From what I understand it’s competive price wise with other uk options

What I can’t get over is how much the 750a prices have risen in the last few years !
 
Seriously disappointed with my very brief visit this morning. Disappointment stemmed from realising how much rain had fallen less than 60 miles from home. My crops are all dying, at Groundswell they looked amazing.

Would be interesting to see a cumulative rainfall map for this area. I went to Agrii's Stow Longa trials the other day and they said some people in this area had 40mm in a thunderstorm a few weeks back. We caught a few extra mm towards Saffron Walden, but heading north of Haverhill had nothing. Will be very interesting to see how the heavy vs light land yields. Certainly can't say crop haven't had enough solar radiation!
 

clbarclay

Member
Location
Worcestershire
Can't imagine it would be cheap though. Those single disc row units are something like $3000 a row here, but we run 13 - 15" wide rows generally . . .
Obviously everything else is SLY

Here's a link to Boss Agriculture if anyone interested

http://www.bosseng.com.au/ag/aghome.html

I have been promoting their gauge wheel / steel scraper ring for some time for JD 750 style units :)
Sly mentioned around £1700 a row at Groundswell, which looks to be a little bit more expensive than Boss. That is slightly redesigned unit to the original Boss units with hydraulics and tool-less adjustment.

It might be good value, but it would still be a big capital investment for some of us.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I wanted to add one of the more interesting talks from my perspective as a grazier was the soil compaction talk late thursday - i walked in by chance and ended up staying - It was a throughly interesting and well put together presentation AND something that most of the time i dont really think about - yet it had many thoughtful takeaways.
 

martian

DD Moderator
BASE UK Member
Location
N Herts
Would be interesting to see a cumulative rainfall map for this area. I went to Agrii's Stow Longa trials the other day and they said some people in this area had 40mm in a thunderstorm a few weeks back. We caught a few extra mm towards Saffron Walden, but heading north of Haverhill had nothing. Will be very interesting to see how the heavy vs light land yields. Certainly can't say crop haven't had enough solar radiation!
I don't think you'd learn a lot from a map as the variation is so local. Last rain we had went from 5 mm one end of the village to 17mm at other and probably wouldn't register on the map. Still very grateful for it, mind!
 

York

Member
Location
D-Berlin
I think we've got to put user names on the lanyards, talked to lots of people today, not sure if all on the forum....

It terms of

I'd say don't miss Greg Judy, such an interesting man, I learnt a lot from him in a few minutes, will take some months to process...

just think about what you would have taken out of Greg spending several days with him. Was a good time with him prior to Groundswell.
The main reason for not going to Groundswell this year: too many speakers, tooo little time to get into depth.
Had a day seminar with Greg over here with a intensive pasture walk. What Greg talks about he has lived and gone through.
Don't get me wrong: Groundswell is one of it's kind and worth going.
Sometimes maybe a little less with having a chance to get into depth can be a option.
York-Th.
p.s. By the way, the Worm lady, performance 2 years ago at Groundswell, did give us a presentation on here new program. Have a gues about the topic.
You are right: "The Cow."
 
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Samcowman

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cornwall
I would agree but would also add that maybe a lot of the more academic speakers might be a bit much to hold attention for a lot of operators

Maybe a good idea to get some existing operators to speak to such an audience to share exkereience at a practical level ?
The guy who does our selling that came with me loved your and jakes talk first thing on thursday. He was keen on dd before but now is definitely up for it and sees more of the theory behind it.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Thanks Clive. Will have to get in touch later in the year if that’s ok.
Have you noticed much difference in the crops where the sheep grazed your cover crops?

Not a noticeable difference to be honest yet but things take a long time to work through a system and without split fields it’s hard to make meaningful comparisons
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
I would agree but would also add that maybe a lot of the more academic speakers might be a bit much to hold attention for a lot of operators

Maybe a good idea to get some existing operators to speak to such an audience to share exkereience at a practical level ?

I like the mix of both. Learning how farmers apply the theory & making it work for them is just as important as the purist gurus like Joel Williams who have the detail.

"I need the science to aim for the stars yet I also need practical farmers to keep my feet on the ground"
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I like the mix of both. Learning how farmers apply the theory & making it work for them is just as important as the purist gurus like Joel Williams who have the detail.

"I need the science to aim for the stars yet I also need practical farmers to keep my feet on the ground"

I dont mean farmers (already a few of them speaking) I think for farm staff and operator involvement it would be interesting to run some operator / staff workshops. As you rightly say getting staff on board is essential
 

Devon James

Member
Location
Devon
My first time to groundswell. I had a great day an met up with some old friends. The speakers were all great, and I now can confirm I know nothing compared to some on the stage. I'll certainly be back next year. Exciting time to be a custodian of the land.
That's a big part of why the show is enjoyable, having a chat and a beer(s) with old mates. Good luck with the drill!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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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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