growing millet

[hedge hog]

evening.
has anyone grown millet to combine?
it sounds a good crop for light land being spring drilled.
any advice be great

 

[Simon Chiles]

evening.
has anyone grown millet to combine?
it sounds a good crop for light land being spring drilled.
any advice be great

Yes, I have. You must choose the right variety that’s suitable for our climate otherwise you’ll have a late harvest. It’s important to have a supplier who has developed a market for the product.
Apart from that it’s an easy crop to grow, if you can’t grow millet I’d suggest you ought to question whether you’re cut out to be a farmer.
Don’t plant it too early, soil temperature needs to be up. I’ve planted it between the end of April ( most years that’s too early) up to the beginning of June. You can use most broadleaf weed killers that you’d use in grass. It doesn’t need much N, 100 kg/ha. Yield is determined more by the amount of sun it gets. Doesn’t need a fungicide. You’ll probably need to desiccate it, now Reglone’s gone it’s got to be Roundup. Harvest is normally mid September. Yield is between a tonne to two per acre, 1-1.5 tonnes is most normal. You can bale the straw if you’re really desperate for bedding, if you chop it it razors up to dust. It grows like a weed so any volunteers can be removed from the following crop with any herbicide that wipes out oats. Don’t store it damp, 14% or under otherwise it’ll become infested with mites. If you want to chat about it send me a PM.

 

[Flat 10]

Is it like oats a cereal but a take all break?

 

[Simon Chiles]

Is it like oats a cereal but a take all break?

I’m not certain about it being a take all break, I would imagine it was. It’s a C4 plant like maize is.

 

[Adeptandy]

I tried a couple of acre on a tricky field, grew ok and covered the ground well. No Chems applied and just 1 dose of N, looked good but never put it through the combine as it had broken ( what a surprise ) small birds loved it over winter.

 

[hedge hog]

thanks simon for your detailed reply
will pm in new year

 

[chaffcutter]

We had a cracking crop almost ready to cut, then had a week or so of bad weather and winds, ended up with not a lot.
Best part was the huge amount of biomass into the ground.

 

[Against_the_grain]

We have grown it a couple of times. Very easy to grow. 1st year did nearly 4t/ha on heavy land. This year on light land about 1t/ha despite looking very well all year. We use it as a option for failed or undrilled fields. There are more profitable break crops but it has its place. Late drilled, good break, easy to dd

 

[JCfarmer]

Whats millet worth per ton?

 

[average farmer]

Looking on a few website today and £230 - 300 is the range. Might look into it a bit more when I get chance

 

[Breckland Boy]

I have grown it for 3 years.
Easy to grow, simple weed control. yield was just over a ton/ acre.
Drying more of a challenge.
£40/t over feed Wheat.
Seed was the biggest cost.
Like above, it has its place but you won't get rich.

 

[Simon Chiles]

Whats millet worth per ton?

Most years white millet is £80/tonne over feed wheat. Some Red Millets can be another £40 on top of that but seed can be difficult to source. There’s been an influx of millet from abroad that has temporarily flooded the market as they tried to beat a possible Brexit cut off this autumn. This has obviously depressed the market temporarily but if I was budgeting I’d use the above figures as they’re far more normal.

 

[JCfarmer]

I have grown millet but only for game cover, usually round the outside of maize cover but thats it.