How to boost direct drilled spring barley

Tractor Boy

Member
Location
Suffolk
I’ve got a problem with some spring barley drilled with a 750 into spring wheat stubble on March 30th. The barley has no go in it, it’s all got spindly leaves and no tillers and despite an 85% establishment it still hasn’t covered between the rows after emerging about a month ago. I’m not sure whether it’s down to the dry not making N and other nutrients available or previous residue locking nutrients up. There is moisture at depth but we haven’t had a lot in the 2-3 inch top rooting zone. Another possible mistake was not spraying the weedy volunteers off til early March as I didn’t want to have to do the usual practice of a dose of glyphosate before Xmas and another at drilling. Am I likely to have some alleopathy?
I’m just worried whether it’s going to run up without bulking out as when this happened on a droughts light land field once that’s what happened and the ears were tiny.
Is there anything that can be done to thicken it up. The second picture shows an area with no residue and the barley has tillered there.
 

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glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
I’ve got a problem with some spring barley drilled with a 750 into spring wheat stubble on March 30th. The barley has no go in it, it’s all got spindly leaves and no tillers and despite an 85% establishment it still hasn’t covered between the rows after emerging about a month ago. I’m not sure whether it’s down to the dry not making N and other nutrients available or previous residue locking nutrients up. There is moisture at depth but we haven’t had a lot in the 2-3 inch top rooting zone. Another possible mistake was not spraying the weedy volunteers off til early March as I didn’t want to have to do the usual practice of a dose of glyphosate before Xmas and another at drilling. Am I likely to have some alleopathy?
I’m just worried whether it’s going to run up without bulking out as when this happened on a droughts light land field once that’s what happened and the ears were tiny.
Is there anything that can be done to thicken it up. The second picture shows an area with no residue and the barley has tillered there.
Plough it
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
How’s the soil temperature. With all that residue cover it more than likely a lot colder under it than the bare patch. Also when drilled it would have been too so got a quicker start. DD crops here are always behind in growing,as said above SB is a crop that need a good start and a heavy residue load isn’t it. Plough it after Christmas ,spray off any flush of weeds,spread you PK and half your n on and work it in while making a decent seedbed. Drill and watch your neighbours admire it.
 

moretimeforgolf

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North Kent, UK
My spring barley is struggling too. I think the mistake was ‘drilling on the green’. The cover crop had sucked all the moisture out and it’s hardly rained since drilling. Where the cover crop was thin the barley is acceptable. I’ve got spring triticale on another block and that is looking well …. cover crop sprayed off about 6 weeks prior to drilling. Both crops following wheat with straw baled.
 

Nick.

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Kenilworth
My SB is awful too.
DD in to Sprayed off 6 weeks before drilling. No CC but usual weeds and volunteers.
It went in a treat, into moisture.
But then next to no rain since we drilled it. Only just enough to damp the dust again last night.
It’s getting desperate now.
 

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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