How to control soft brome

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
we’ve got a field of W barley that’s got a bad brome problem, I knew it was there in the wheat last year as it had a few bits that had been waterlogged and killed the crop but I’d no idea it would be as bad as it is the field hasn’t had brome in before 3 years ago and was permanent grass till about 2005-6. I am into direct drilling and it’s been direct drilled this year last year and cultivated for beans the year before. What would you do going forward? My plan is to dd a forage crop of turnips/ kale then plough it in the spring for spring wheat any other ideas. Or plough it and drill a grass ley for 2 years which would work best or any other better ideas? Would cutting for silage work better trouble is it would have to be baled as I can’t put it in the clamp with 2nd cut till mid July which will be too late
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
we’ve got a field of W barley that’s got a bad brome problem, I knew it was there in the wheat last year as it had a few bits that had been waterlogged and killed the crop but I’d no idea it would be as bad as it is the field hasn’t had brome in before 3 years ago and was permanent grass till about 2005-6. I am into direct drilling and it’s been direct drilled this year last year and cultivated for beans the year before. What would you do going forward? My plan is to dd a forage crop of turnips/ kale then plough it in the spring for spring wheat any other ideas. Or plough it and drill a grass ley for 2 years which would work best or any other better ideas? Would cutting for silage work better trouble is it would have to be baled as I can’t put it in the clamp with 2nd cut till mid July which will be too late

I am going to be a real irritant now and say, with hindsight (yes I always now what I should have done!) you shouldn't have grown Winter Barley as no Spring SU option. But grown winter wheat when there would have been options of Broadway Star or a mesosulfuron product, such as Hatra. I have found these do an excellent job in Spring, following autumn residuals. Sorry. I will collect my coat now.
 

redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
Like many people we have a brome problem in a few fields that have been in arable for several years. In a couple fallow helped when it was part of cross compliance, but now I have reduced the area of wb because it doesn't seem to work particularly well in a dd situation.
I have plonked on a rotation of osr,ww,cc,sb,wo and then wb/ww, cc,sb. I also have temp grass to add in when necessary too. Very early into it though.
Im planting Winter oats in the spring as a trial to help combat brome also.
 

robs1

Member
So you think leave it on top? Although we are direct drilling mainly I’m more than happy to bring the plough out the shed occasionally
Iirc for soft and meadow brome the advice is to leave them on the surface for at least a month to break dormancy for sterile brome ir was to mix into the soil to break dormancy. Of course it all depends on rain to make it grow so it can be killed before drilling and avoid winter barley for the next crop.
 

whindy

Member
BASE UK Member
Feal your pain !
We have a major Barran Brome explosion in some wb .and a mix of them all in others it wasn't a problem in the wheat last year.
Starting to think the ploughing is preferable to dd.
 
Avoid barley for a bit. Get a plough or borrow one.

Make use of the best pre-em or autumn chemistry available, including getting an avadex contractor on speed dial if needs be.

Be careful with cultivations and the like dragging exotic stuff out of field margins or from under hedges.

And whatever you do, don't ever borrow, obtain or buy seed from other farms... Don't ask how I know about this. :X3:
 

Fish

Member
Location
North yorkshire
Got a field of WB with a similar problem.
Here the following crop will be ORS, which will be treated in all probability with Falcon (2x @ .5 ltr) + astrokerb.
The wheat crop drilled in autumn 23 will have an autumn application of Broadway star.

There is no doubt that grass weeds are a problem in DD/no till, you’ve just got to plan ahead, avoid second wheat/WB in all but the cleanest fields, grow s barley, s beans, linseed, even cover crops and flying flocks of sheep work.

After 20+ years of no plough and 7 of no till, the one technique I will not use is the plough.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
My brother has just rogued a particularly bad headland that used to be an ELS grass margin. All these margins and things just seem to give this kind of trash a helping hand out into the field. If he hadn’t rogued it, combine would have spread it plenty far enough and next thing it’s right across the field. It’s actually quite satisfying to rogue. You lift a big bunch from one root.
 

Fish

Member
Location
North yorkshire
Brome is soon going to be the next blackgrass.
Na, broom is a complete pussy compared to this stuff, although the failure of broadway star to control’ broom in spring, and knowing the history of SU herbicides, does fill me with a sense of forebodin.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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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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