how much wheat still to plant

[mountfarm]

i keep reading and hearing about farmers who have been unable to plant
the early planting intention survey says 1.776 million has if there is some acres that would normally have been planted by now will the area of wheat in may be less than 1.776 million

planted 100% of intended although one field may not make harvest the rest looks better than last years

30% still plant but we do use a later variety so have until March anyway.

 

[yellow belly]

What point are you trying to make here? Don't bother cropping land that can lie wet? That's pretty well all our Tees valley clays out of production!

All the wheats sown in September look good where there isn't standing water. I will certainly start drilling sooner this September. Our 6m drill is working hard to sow 3500 acres/year especially when field sizes are small and the blocks of land are well spread out. What would really throw the logistics would be the loss of osr. At least that was 750 acres sown before mid September. I'm digging out drain ends at the moment and talking to our local gypsum supplier which would help the drainage.

May be you need to look at machinery capacity
so you do more at the optimum time
a wider drill does not cost much more in the long run just have to keep it longer
imho no more than a weeks drilling for each crop on heavy land

 

[bankrupt]

imho no more than a weeks drilling for each crop on heavy land

So what drill does Brisel need for 1750 acres/week?

 

[teslacoils]

So what drill does Brisel need for 1750 acres/week?

One pulled by a contractor?

 

[4course]

What point are you trying to make here? Don't bother cropping land that can lie wet? That's pretty well all our Tees valley clays out of production!

All the wheats sown in September look good where there isn't standing water. I will certainly start drilling sooner this September. Our 6m drill is working hard to sow 3500 acres/year especially when field sizes are small and the blocks of land are well spread out. What would really throw the logistics would be the loss of osr. At least that was 750 acres sown before mid September. I'm digging out drain ends at the moment and talking to our local gypsum supplier which would help the drainage.

the point im trying to make is be careful of sowing too early as if it bakes after sowing its then prone to rotting off in what bit of moisture there is or it gets . ive lost crops through sowing too early especially when we used to grow more rape cos once it rains those slimy feckers finish it off and rolling it to slow them down just encourages standing water as the clay forms an imprenatable lagoon ,this last year and even more so the one before has been the exception rather than the rule , at least here

 

[robs1]

Been cutting some hedges round a few fields this week that were under water over xmas, really surprised how they've drained down. Meant to be a sharp frost here tonight so hope to get the sulphur 90 on

 

[yellow belly]

So what drill does Brisel need for 1750 acres/week?

depending on cultivation system if it is all heavy land then 12m of width
but the bigger the area the more diversified soil and cropping giving a wider window
from experience a wider drill in small fields will do more acres per m width than a narrower one and leave less paddled ground


damaging heavy soil takes several years to repare at considerably more cost than a wider drill

 

[Brisel]

depending on cultivation system if it is all heavy land then 12m of width
but the bigger the area the more diversified soil and cropping giving a wider window
from experience a wider drill in small fields will do more acres per m width than a narrower one and leave less paddled ground


damaging heavy soil takes several years to repare at considerably more cost than a wider drill

CTF is one of the options I'm looking at. The tricky bit is making it fit our cropping systems without breaking the bank. Control the source of the compaction and less remedial cultivation is needed.

 

[snarling bee]

1/3 of my winter cereals were not sown. Repeated rains in September meant we pulled out of the heavy land and drilled nothing after 10th October. It just hasn’t dried out enough since and every stubble I have walked since Christmas has water stood on it now.

I thought you would be following a certain thread - you need a Triton!!!

 

[DrWazzock]

70% drilled. Rained on it nearly everyday since. The rooks have given up on it as their feet get a build up of clay on them and they can’t take off. It’s poking through on lighter areas, looks to have drowned where it’s heavier. 50% worth harvesting. Not much drilled at all next door round me down here. Lots drilled up on the wolds. Much more than last year and looks well.

 

[4course]

after another inch /24mmof rain last night and still raining the puddles have missed out the pond stage and gone straight to lakes and rivers ,.so far every time its rained it has disappeared within a day or so but we cant stand much more 85mm since boxing day

 

[2wheels]

What point are you trying to make here? Don't bother cropping land that can lie wet? That's pretty well all our Tees valley clays out of production!

All the wheats sown in September look good where there isn't standing water. I will certainly start drilling sooner this September. Our 6m drill is working hard to sow 3500 acres/year especially when field sizes are small and the blocks of land are well spread out. What would really throw the logistics would be the loss of osr. At least that was 750 acres sown before mid September. I'm digging out drain ends at the moment and talking to our local gypsum supplier which would help the drainage.

with your small field sizes would you not be better with a secon smaller drill to do these parts? i know it is another tractor and man but sometimes the end justifys the means. or maybe a contractor for the awkward fields?

 

[Flat 10]

Large heavy land acreages are always going to be "interesting". Just keep the bg away and carry on drilling early.

Easier said than done....

 

[yellow belly]

If only because of the extra overlaps.

Since moving here to 6m in 1978, we've got much more double-drilled lodging.

ha ha
a skilled operater picks up and lowers so there are no underlaps and overlaps
half bout shut off and gps switch can aid a good operater but the operater still needs to accurately set it up
i often see over the hedge where 2 rows overlap perfectly parallel down the field

i have found going to a wider drill and using a tape measure my fields got smaller
now using rtk and using skip runs to eliminate tight turns measuring the actual area planted also, maintains this reduction in area read
accurately calibrating the drill moniter for area and speed eliminates any descrepency
now on gps speed so true area and seed rate

if you have a drill that is a couple of inches wider so there are no misses means the operater sets the markers /gps so tramlines are a true width and does not get a ribing in the pub for any missed bits

 

[bankrupt]

the operater . . . . . does not get a ribing in the pub for any missed bits

Perversely, as the drillman here, that's probably much more important to me than getting it all done.

 

[Brisel]

with your small field sizes would you not be better with a secon smaller drill to do these parts? i know it is another tractor and man but sometimes the end justifys the means. or maybe a contractor for the awkward fields?

I've got 2 x 4m combinations as well, but they normally have the drills off and are working land down ahead of the Rapid in September. If we can get out of the cycle of not getting drilled up in the autumn then having more late maturing spring crops which repeats the bottleneck if the following autumn is catchy then a few tweaks to our existing system would be sufficient IMO. Being short on labour and a key land working tractor for 5 weeks last autumn didn't help at all.

My agronomist said that it was only the bigger clients who didn't get drilled up in good time last autumn. The smaller guys who could do it all in 7-10 days were ahead of those of us needing 3 weeks+ to get it all done.

 

[ajd132]

CTF is one of the options I'm looking at. The tricky bit is making it fit our cropping systems without breaking the bank. Control the source of the compaction and less remedial cultivation is needed.

Despite being ‘over capacity’ with my 12m drill on 1200ha, I have never once regretted it and the extra 4m compared to what would be standard on that area has paid for itself many time’s over in the last 5 years.

 

[bankrupt]

get out of the cycle of not getting drilled up in the autumn then having more late maturing spring crops which repeats the bottleneck if the following autumn is catchy

Yes - cutting spring beans on 23rd October doesn't leave a lot of time if it's too wet for drilling after the 10th.

 

[redbaron]

20% wheat still to go in here after sugar beet. Half that was planned for mid December, but too much rain prevented beet lifting. Been saturated ever since.

 

[4course]

Yes - cutting spring beans on 23rd October doesn't leave a lot of time if it's too wet for drilling after the 10th.

ive got a field destined for sp beans ,havnt grown beans for years and they were winter , so with this in mind roughly what date would you decide not to bother sowing and put sp barley in as dont want to be combining past september