Niels
Member
- Location
- Netherlands/Suffolk
Thought I had better introduce myself (despite having been a member since day 1) as well on here since I read the various topics on here a lot.
I live in Holland (the Flevopolders) and work as a parttime agricultural journalist. I also run my own company and was asked by Claydon's to introduce their Hybrid drill and other products in Holland last year. I have worked in Suffolk in the past and was already familiar with UK (East Anglia) conditions and drilling methods. In my opinion UK conditions and those in Holland are quite similar in terms of rainfall and soil typ. However, we have no stones and an intensive cropping plan with few cereals. Most machinery and ideas come from Germany but, in my opinion, Dutch farmers and contractors should look West, not East. However, the small pond between our two country's often seems like a massive distance.
After our initial start in 2012 with Claydon we drilled a few fields of wheat in terrible conditions. They have done reasonably well and it certainly sparked a great interest. 'Strip till' and min-till are relatively new and unknown over here. The fact that wheat was € 270 last season and diesel € 1,25/L makes that farmers are keen to try cheaper methods in establishing their cereal crops.
This year we have started a very succesful demonstration season with the Claydon straw harrow and Hybrid drill. 4 machines have been sold and operating now with good results. I am not saying Claydon is the best drill ever build and the rest is useless. I do however feel that it is a machine that can work in varying conditions and still produce a reasonable/good crop. Also if you switch from a fully conventional system to direct drilling it asks for a lot of devotion and a totally different mind. This is difficult to achieve and min-till/strip till drilling is a first step into looking after your soils and reducing costs. Some say it is just a fashion item but I reckon it is more an entry into more advanced matters like direct drilling and cover crops. The fact that Claydon does still carry out some tillage means that customers are easier convinced their min-tilled crops will take the 1000mm they achieve annually. I have competed in direct drill trials with an Amazone direct drill (Primera) and out of the 9 years the trial has been running it failed to produce a crop 7 times. This is all due to poor soil conditions. Seed gets drilled, 30mm (or 50mm) of rain falls and it floods. Slugs move in and all is eaten/rotten. The Claydon system (and others) do create initial drainage for the water to flow away. When your soil condition is optimal in say year 3-5 you can start thinking of scratch till or direct drilling (in my opinion).
I'm always following the forum (and the DD part in particular) with great interest. There are so many opinions and so much to learn. Direct drilling is a constant learning process and each year is different. With ploughing the technology has stopped and it requires not much attention to produce a reasonable crop. It can be very difficult to convince people that it can be done differently.
I live in Holland (the Flevopolders) and work as a parttime agricultural journalist. I also run my own company and was asked by Claydon's to introduce their Hybrid drill and other products in Holland last year. I have worked in Suffolk in the past and was already familiar with UK (East Anglia) conditions and drilling methods. In my opinion UK conditions and those in Holland are quite similar in terms of rainfall and soil typ. However, we have no stones and an intensive cropping plan with few cereals. Most machinery and ideas come from Germany but, in my opinion, Dutch farmers and contractors should look West, not East. However, the small pond between our two country's often seems like a massive distance.
After our initial start in 2012 with Claydon we drilled a few fields of wheat in terrible conditions. They have done reasonably well and it certainly sparked a great interest. 'Strip till' and min-till are relatively new and unknown over here. The fact that wheat was € 270 last season and diesel € 1,25/L makes that farmers are keen to try cheaper methods in establishing their cereal crops.
This year we have started a very succesful demonstration season with the Claydon straw harrow and Hybrid drill. 4 machines have been sold and operating now with good results. I am not saying Claydon is the best drill ever build and the rest is useless. I do however feel that it is a machine that can work in varying conditions and still produce a reasonable/good crop. Also if you switch from a fully conventional system to direct drilling it asks for a lot of devotion and a totally different mind. This is difficult to achieve and min-till/strip till drilling is a first step into looking after your soils and reducing costs. Some say it is just a fashion item but I reckon it is more an entry into more advanced matters like direct drilling and cover crops. The fact that Claydon does still carry out some tillage means that customers are easier convinced their min-tilled crops will take the 1000mm they achieve annually. I have competed in direct drill trials with an Amazone direct drill (Primera) and out of the 9 years the trial has been running it failed to produce a crop 7 times. This is all due to poor soil conditions. Seed gets drilled, 30mm (or 50mm) of rain falls and it floods. Slugs move in and all is eaten/rotten. The Claydon system (and others) do create initial drainage for the water to flow away. When your soil condition is optimal in say year 3-5 you can start thinking of scratch till or direct drilling (in my opinion).
I'm always following the forum (and the DD part in particular) with great interest. There are so many opinions and so much to learn. Direct drilling is a constant learning process and each year is different. With ploughing the technology has stopped and it requires not much attention to produce a reasonable crop. It can be very difficult to convince people that it can be done differently.