Legumes

Kevtherev

Member
Location
Welshpool Powys
An interesting read if you can get a copy folks
EDD10158-A5D1-4428-8A74-8C4D7B137635.jpeg
 

Bruce Almighty

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Warwickshire
I would like to grow a reasonable acreage of Lucerne.
Maybe 20-30 acres ?

We have our own silage machinery so can conserve what we like, when we like.
It could be added to our TMR easily.

As I don't know anyone else growing it locally, my experience is minimal.
We have 100 dairy cows, 50 followers as well as 700 ewes and approx 600 acres arable across several farms either rented or contract farmed.
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
May not suit most English conditions. But Lucerne is the king of legumes in my opinion. Tolerates dry and extreme heat(will happily just sit there and do nothing...but it won't die). Then a good rain or an irrigation and the growth is phenomenal. Just simply doesn't tolerate water logging So if you have free draining higher ground, that's what I would look at.
 

hollister

Member
Location
Alcester, warks
I would like to grow a reasonable acreage of Lucerne.
Maybe 20-30 acres ?

We have our own silage machinery so can conserve what we like, when we like.
It could be added to our TMR easily.

As I don't know anyone else growing it locally, my experience is minimal.
We have 100 dairy cows, 50 followers as well as 700 ewes and approx 600 acres arable across several farms either rented or contract farmed.
Been growing a bit (5acres) for 3/4 years Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. Put a new patch in last year Artemis which is flying, better that previous unknown variety. Get 3 or 4 cuts a year, aiming to get for small bale hay for horses, but some ends up big round silage depending on weather. Following crop of wheat just starting to look hungry.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Been growing a bit (5acres) for 3/4 years Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. Put a new patch in last year Artemis which is flying, better that previous unknown variety. Get 3 or 4 cuts a year, aiming to get for small bale hay for horses, but some ends up big round silage depending on weather. Following crop of wheat just starting to look hungry.
Lucerne loves our high pH chalky soil. Keeps growing even when the grass needs irrigating and is parched. Minimal input. We grow about 45 acres, for the dairy herd (clamp silage) and digester. It is the lowest carbon footprint crop for the digester by a long way, but can only feed about 20% of total feed as H2S gets too high at high feed rates.
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Err, chickpeas, mungbeans & faba beans are a regular part of my arable cropping rotation. My long term plan is to include vetch & clovers as cover crops during the “fallow” sequence between cash crops.
When I harvest my grain sorghum in a few weeks, it will be planted straight back with vetch, clover, oats & maybe a few other species, then terminated at flowering then fallowed through to wheat / durum next June
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
Err, chickpeas, mungbeans & faba beans are a regular part of my arable cropping rotation. My long term plan is to include vetch & clovers as cover crops during the “fallow” sequence between cash crops.
When I harvest my grain sorghum in a few weeks, it will be planted straight back with vetch, clover, oats & maybe a few other species, then terminated at flowering then fallowed through to wheat / durum next June
vetch and clover can be a cash crop also..
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Clovers not new , it's just been forgotten on a lot of farms, I can remember helping dad with mixes in the 60st and 70 ts, Clover was almost standard in those days , he always put half a pound of New Zealand Wild White in , what's seen the demise of Clover on a lot of farms are Docks and the inability to use cheap sprays
Yes thistles ditto , pity there's not a good and effective Clover safe herbicide.
Relatively cheap N hasn't helped agricultural use of legumes development here either its likely.
 

cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
Before I left school the old man never sprayed any pastures. We had a massive dock, Patterson curse, and thistle problem. Started spraying, plus tried a few biological controls (dock grubs from South Africa , and I think there was one for Patterson curse too?). Anyway, clover levels didn’t decline , but the weeds did. Now rarely see a dock and patto is a relative rarity.

Do agree about the over reliance on bagged N , and clover certainly doesn't appreciate excessive amounts of urea.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

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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