Is osr really worth it ?

rob1

Member
Location
wiltshire
Gave up WB because of bloody rooks smashing it down but does help the entry into rape think if I grow anymore it has to be in earlier, get a better stand going into winter to keep the flying rats at bay and maybe find a way of thinning it in spring, perhaps we have got greedy by planting after second wheat, this year I have been caught out will learn I hope not to it again
 

DRC

Member
Nearly gave up WB as could never get yields as good as wheat,but last year ploughed up a lot of grass and thought i would split 50/50.I kept kicking myself after,thinking why didn't i grow all wheat and friends said the same,until harvest that is,when the barley outyielded the wheat by half a ton and i got a good crop of stubble turnips in after.
Made me realise,if i did'nt already know,that all sorts of factors come in such as workload,storage and risk,with a varied rotation!
 
I find our WW yields fluctuate greatly with weather. Last year being the perfect example - averaging about 2.8 t / acre, down from 4.1 t / acre the year before.

Our WB yields seem to be fairly constant at 3.9 - 4 t / acre. Even an awful looking, thin, 12" high piece will yield 3.9 t / acre - as I found out to my surprise 2 years ago!
 

rob1

Member
Location
wiltshire
I find our WW yields fluctuate greatly with weather. Last year being the perfect example - averaging about 2.8 t / acre, down from 4.1 t / acre the year before.

Our WB yields seem to be fairly constant at 3.9 - 4 t / acre. Even an awful looking, thin, 12" high piece will yield 3.9 t / acre - as I found out to my surprise 2 years ago!

Which varieties are you growing never seemed to be able to get much more than three whereas average four from first and second wheats
 

DRC

Member
So what are people alternatives to OSR then?

As I said, my planned rotation is wb / wb / osr / wb / wb / spr beans
On fairly heavy clay land.

What would be your suggestions instead of osr for me?
If your anywhere near an AD plant why not grow some maize.Put plenty of your pig muck on pre xmas on heavy land,plough and let the frost get at it.
Harvest is a bit earlier for AD and you will have a good crop of wheat or barley afterwards as the maize roots seem to leave the soil quite friable and the benefit of the FYM is still there.
 
If your anywhere near an AD plant why not grow some maize.Put plenty of your pig muck on pre xmas on heavy land,plough and let the frost get at it.
Harvest is a bit earlier for AD and you will have a good crop of wheat or barley afterwards as the maize roots seem to leave the soil quite friable and the benefit of the FYM is still there.

We used to grow maize as ex-dairy.
Been pout off that for life after seeing some of those ruts!
 

DRC

Member
We used to grow maize as ex-dairy.
Been pout off that for life after seeing some of those ruts!
Ok,try some of these then.
This really is Shropshire,not France,and is our HLS wild bird seed plot[you should've seen the finches in the winter] PB150017.JPGPB150018.JPG View attachment 1811PB150017.JPG
 
We used to grow maize as ex-dairy.
Been pout off that for life after seeing some of those ruts!

Ex dairy! Do you miss the cows?

I know what you are saying about maize, a wet autumn and your field is nearly destroyed! Terrible for the land in this country, we are not the USA or South of France!
 

DRC

Member
Ex dairy! Do you miss the cows?

I know what you are saying about maize, a wet autumn and your field is nearly destroyed! Terrible for the land in this country, we are not the USA or South of France!
You need to be growing early varieties and not letting contractors determine when to harvest.Touch wood haven't had a problem but did grow for a really good chap who harvested early and had my interests at heart as well.Too many Dairy lads use maize ground as a dumping ground for slurry and that's when the ruts are at their worst IMO,and then wonder why they have compaction!
 

DRC

Member
That wasn't last year was it?!

I'll sow a few if those for the birds - see how they grow!
No.afraid not.It was 2006 or 07 i think,the first year we were in HLS. Never managed to grow sunflowers as good since but put a mix in with a bit of allsorts and something usually grows well.
 
Cassia is a great variety.

Are you planning on mixing the pig poop in with a pigtail then? Where will that fit in the rotation?

Yes will use pigtail.
Not decided upon the best time yet - might be a bit of trial and error.
I plan to use old silage clamp to store muck, so have plenty of room to save it. So will probably get put on when ground is dry enough to take travelling, rather than following crop specific only.
 
I think the only thing we could go back to is beans which I am not keen on to be honest, although it would be an excuse to plough resulting in no herb needed, but I am sat with the following crops in no particular order. 1st wheat, 2nd wheat, winter barley, spring barley (not keen though) and potatoes rotated on about 15% every year.

Spring crops here historically have not worked very well if we get a dry spring which is why I am reluctant to grow them and have had disasters with spring beans, spring barley and spring linseed.

So I am seriously thinking about fallow because grass isn't really a market around here and I dont want to be trying to bale hay or anything like that. Maize possibly an option but its following it up thats the problem.

In the back of my mind I am tempted to go ww on the lot and nothing else bar just rotating potatoes and some fallow on weedy areas but I've tried continuous wheat before and it didnt really work very well at all and was costing the same as a 1st wheat to grow but yielding half at times.
 

jed

Member
Location
Shropshire
I wasn't aware of this practise.Is it common and how do they deal with clubroot ? I know you can grow brassica two years in a row but always assumed you'd have to leave it for a long break thereafter.I've also heard that clubroot isnt a problem as long as a brassica isnt in the ground on the longest day.Hence why stubble turnips can be grown every year after spring barley.I've never seen this published,though.
Beware we grew stubble turnips followed by sring barley on one block of ground for many years then the club root set in and we haven't been able to grow turnips on that ground for the last twenty years.The only forage crop we can put on there now is typon as this is not affected by the club root.

Jed
 
I think the only thing we could go back to is beans which I am not keen on to be honest, although it would be an excuse to plough resulting in no herb needed, but I am sat with the following crops in no particular order. 1st wheat, 2nd wheat, winter barley, spring barley (not keen though) and potatoes rotated on about 15% every year.

Spring crops here historically have not worked very well if we get a dry spring which is why I am reluctant to grow them and have had disasters with spring beans, spring barley and spring linseed.

So I am seriously thinking about fallow because grass isn't really a market around here and I dont want to be trying to bale hay or anything like that. Maize possibly an option but its following it up thats the problem.

In the back of my mind I am tempted to go ww on the lot and nothing else bar just rotating potatoes and some fallow on weedy areas but I've tried continuous wheat before and it didnt really work very well at all and was costing the same as a 1st wheat to grow but yielding half at times.

Why not just go WW/WB/WOSR/WW/Spuds or ditch a barley and go 2nd wheat.
 
I think the only thing we could go back to is beans which I am not keen on to be honest, although it would be an excuse to plough resulting in no herb needed, but I am sat with the following crops in no particular order. 1st wheat, 2nd wheat, winter barley, spring barley (not keen though) and potatoes rotated on about 15% every year.

Spring crops here historically have not worked very well if we get a dry spring which is why I am reluctant to grow them and have had disasters with spring beans, spring barley and spring linseed.

So I am seriously thinking about fallow because grass isn't really a market around here and I dont want to be trying to bale hay or anything like that. Maize possibly an option but its following it up thats the problem.

In the back of my mind I am tempted to go ww on the lot and nothing else bar just rotating potatoes and some fallow on weedy areas but I've tried continuous wheat before and it didnt really work very well at all and was costing the same as a 1st wheat to grow but yielding half at times.

What is your usual establishment method if you need an excuse to plough?
 

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