Heavy land crop rotations without OSR

[teslacoils]

With osr looking like it's on its way out, what are folk looking at for heavy land cropping? Or are you just stripping costs to the bone and going wheat/fallow with a cheap green manure? I'm very sad all the non cereal break crop are just so incredibly bobbins or unreliable to the extreme.

I'm even having another look at lupins.

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

Have you discounted Linseed? I seem to recall you previously rated it.

 

[teslacoils]

Yeah, I like linseed. But is that really it? How are you supposed to cut big acreages with nothing to go through the combine til mid August, and then milling wheat / peas / spring barley all clashing?

Just so vexing when a mainstay crop goes down the shitter so quickly.

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

How’s your grass plans coming on? That could keep you busy in June.

 

[curlietailz]

I fancy wheat barley fallow/green cover
That would spread workload out
And improve soil

 

[teslacoils]

How’s your grass plans coming on? That could keep you busy in June.

Grass growing. Digestate on. Just need to turn it into money....reliably....repeatedly.

 

[snarling bee]

Continuous wheat.

 

[curlietailz]

Continuous wheat.

Ah. Three crop rule in my case. Hence Wheat Barley Fallow.
although not this year ( derogation)

 

[ajd132]

Continuous wheat.

Or Atleast continuous cereals. Wheat and spring barley to keep on top of grass weeds, some cover crops to ease disease pressure.

 

[Chalky]

The wheat/fallow(summer cheap cover) is where I would go. Obviously easier if scale is on your side as critical mass of single crop can cover all costs & leave a margin. Still need the big combine(wheat area unchanged probably) but no big field power units as loads of time for prep.

 

[Bury the Trash]

With osr looking like it's on its way out, what are folk looking at for heavy land cropping? Or are you just stripping costs to the bone and going wheat/fallow with a cheap green manure? I'm very sad all the non cereal break crop are just so incredibly bobbins or unreliable to the extreme.

I'm even having another look at lupins.

Peas , swathed before they lodge horrendously ?

The Livestock industry really needs home grown protein in big steady / predictable tonnages

 

[Two Tone]

Up until a few weeks ago, my answer was to look at the CS schemes and the coming ELMS to create a rotation using Stewardship crops as break crops.
Ain’t sure it’s going to happen now.

Everybody piling into Beans and Oats will depress prices such that there won’t be any profit.

How the UK is going to manage without OSR being grown any more, I’m not sure. It is amazing what foods it gets used in. Nonetheless, without the necessary chemical inputs we need to grow it, it’s a complete waste of time attempting to grow it.

One thing that has really struck me is that at this time of the year, we’d normally be seeing huge swathes of yellow in the countryside. There just isn’t any yellow anywhere near here this year

 

[Spud]

ww, ww, winter beans, ww, ww, cover crop, spring oats on the heavy land here. Direct drilling the breaks and the cc, and wheat after beans currently, as soil improves probably do more. Stopped OSR in 2010 due to its incompatibilty with potatoes.

Lighter land is potatoes, ww, wbarley, cc, beet, s barley, cc, w beans/s oats, ww, (wb) cc, back to spuds

Muck before roots and spring oats. Several different establishment systems.

We harvest from July round to February, and sow from August to May. Not sure we can spread the workload much more! (combining could last 8-10 weeks some years)

Linseed interests me, but we lack the scale and storage to add it into the mix at this stage.

Certainly dont miss OSR, though if I wasn't growing spuds I'd probably enjoy the challenge.

 

[warksfarmer]

With osr looking like it's on its way out, what are folk looking at for heavy land cropping? Or are you just stripping costs to the bone and going wheat/fallow with a cheap green manure? I'm very sad all the non cereal break crop are just so incredibly bobbins or unreliable to the extreme.

I'm even having another look at lupins.

WW, SW (possible cover between the first 2), fallow/12 month stewardship stubble.

 

[DRC]

The 2 yr legume fallow in mid tier looks good, but as has been said, will there be money to pay for it.

 

[Flat 10]

Grass growing. Digestate on. Just need to turn it into money....reliably....repeatedly.

That’s not easy

 

[teslacoils]

That’s not easy

Indeed. Protective helmet applied - commodity beef production would be best fit, but omg it looks an absolute mugs game, with tb and an even worse bumming from processors and supermarkets than growing wheat.

 

[Flat 10]

I think more Winter Barley will get grown here on heavier land (as in my farm). I have a hatred of 2nd WW (partly because we have very little real heavy heavy land) and I think WB is a better 2nd cereal.

 

[Jo28]

I think more Winter Barley will get grown here on heavier land (as in my farm). I have a hatred of 2nd WW (partly because we have very little real heavy heavy land) and I think WB is a better 2nd cereal.

But what to grow as the break after?

 

[robbie]

I think more Winter Barley will get grown here on heavier land (as in my farm). I have a hatred of 2nd WW (partly because we have very little real heavy heavy land) and I think WB is a better 2nd cereal.

@flat10 just curious, why do you have such a hatred for 2nd wheat. We get on well with it and were anything but heavy.