Hi all, I'm a newbie to crop establishment, especially in these conditions (weather, costs etc) and would appreciate some advice. We are in W Northants on clay/loam.
We aim to establish 30 ha of GS4 (ryegrass, Timothy, other grasses, clover, trefoil, other legumes and flowers) this autumn, following barley as part of our new rotation. General advice is to establish a firm, fine seedbed, and sowing depth is within the top cm, ideally by end of August. Of course moisture is required which is the main issue at the moment - last rain was 1 July (6 mm) and we have had 215 mm all year.
Our past approach would have been to cultivate, roll, drill (Kockerling or similar) and roll again, and have had good results in terms of establishment (early cut in May removes volunteers and weeds). We will probably apply some FYM.
Barley is in, straw has been baled and not much residue / trash left.
Given the high costs of diesel, and wanting to move soil as little as possible, we have two (maybe more?!) options this year I think:
1. Straw rake x 2, roll, spray any emerging weeds, drill with 3m Aitchison Seedmatic (2 directions for better coverage?), roll.
2. Straw rake, shallow cultivate (Simba SL with tines and discs), roll, spray weeds, sow with 6 m Opico grass harrow and air seeder, roll.
Apart from being dust dry now, soil has been in great condition this past year so want to keep it that way, although ley will be in for 2 years doing some repair work.
I realise it's difficult to advise on this without seeing conditions, and we need moisture first, but would be great to hear thoughts on the above, or perhaps whether we should try a combination of both methods as a trial (it isn't in CS scheme until Jan 23, we are getting a headstart to reset rotation).
Thanks in advance
We aim to establish 30 ha of GS4 (ryegrass, Timothy, other grasses, clover, trefoil, other legumes and flowers) this autumn, following barley as part of our new rotation. General advice is to establish a firm, fine seedbed, and sowing depth is within the top cm, ideally by end of August. Of course moisture is required which is the main issue at the moment - last rain was 1 July (6 mm) and we have had 215 mm all year.
Our past approach would have been to cultivate, roll, drill (Kockerling or similar) and roll again, and have had good results in terms of establishment (early cut in May removes volunteers and weeds). We will probably apply some FYM.
Barley is in, straw has been baled and not much residue / trash left.
Given the high costs of diesel, and wanting to move soil as little as possible, we have two (maybe more?!) options this year I think:
1. Straw rake x 2, roll, spray any emerging weeds, drill with 3m Aitchison Seedmatic (2 directions for better coverage?), roll.
2. Straw rake, shallow cultivate (Simba SL with tines and discs), roll, spray weeds, sow with 6 m Opico grass harrow and air seeder, roll.
Apart from being dust dry now, soil has been in great condition this past year so want to keep it that way, although ley will be in for 2 years doing some repair work.
I realise it's difficult to advise on this without seeing conditions, and we need moisture first, but would be great to hear thoughts on the above, or perhaps whether we should try a combination of both methods as a trial (it isn't in CS scheme until Jan 23, we are getting a headstart to reset rotation).
Thanks in advance
