No till and cover crops in Scotland

jh.

Member
Location
fife
Had my agronomist in other day and had a chat about cover crops for the summer if I don't take a spring cereal to harvest on some of the land. He suggested daikon radish , crimson clover and phacelia but was keen for me to sow them as straights to see what works best . I said I was thinking mix it with spring oats for OM and thin it all out to make it cheaper but he didn't like that idea . He said blocks of each will show easier in next crop what works best on my place and oats are a curse for volunteers in next crop.

His straights at his suggested rates does come in a lot more expensive than I was planning to spend per hec compared to a oat mix .

Would spring oats at say 25kg/h , white mustard at 3 , tillage radish at 3 and phacelia at 1 , be a disaster?

He seemed to really like the crimson clover so maybe swap it for the phacelia if the phacelia is bad for self seeding ?

Area is stubble at moment , to be dunged then cover crop until drilling with wheat September , so guess June cover drilling?

He was also keen for me to plough for the cover crop establishment after dunging and top off the cover pre drilling wheat . I'd rather disc and combi then see what direct drill demos I can get for wheat drilling.

Have mzuri and horsch dealers close by, so potentially tine and disc if available.
 

rjmitch21

New Member
BASE UK Member
Are you renting any ground out for Tatties? That is my biggest stumbling block. That and baler/dung spreader traffic.
I really would like to try something different however giving up the rent income would be difficult.

Doug Ruxton at Fetercairn is using a Claydon and I think Ross Mitchell is experimenting with another make of drill.

Land is not ploughing nicely this year and not much chance of getting a frost mould now.

Yes we are using a sumo versadrill which is basically a moore unidrill. Definitely more a direct drill rather than strip drill. Been experimenting with all different cover crops and timing is definitely key to getting them to work in Scotland. Building a 30m broadcast unit currently so we can go straight into standing crops before harvest. The spring crops we are drilling currently are going in so much easier where we had good successful cover crops last year. Opens up the soil and makes it so much more friable. Watch so many neighbour's battering hell out of ground to get it to work down this year following the wet back end and then drying out so quick now!!
 

KennyO

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Angus
Yes we are using a sumo versadrill which is basically a moore unidrill. Definitely more a direct drill rather than strip drill. Been experimenting with all different cover crops and timing is definitely key to getting them to work in Scotland. Building a 30m broadcast unit currently so we can go straight into standing crops before harvest. The spring crops we are drilling currently are going in so much easier where we had good successful cover crops last year. Opens up the soil and makes it so much more friable. Watch so many neighbour's battering hell out of ground to get it to work down this year following the wet back end and then drying out so quick now!!
Good work.

When the CV lockdown is lifted I hope to get a chance to see what a few of you guys are doing.

Hope to be able to get someone to drill some wheat after osr for me this autumn.
 

Samcowman

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cornwall
Had my agronomist in other day and had a chat about cover crops for the summer if I don't take a spring cereal to harvest on some of the land. He suggested daikon radish , crimson clover and phacelia but was keen for me to sow them as straights to see what works best . I said I was thinking mix it with spring oats for OM and thin it all out to make it cheaper but he didn't like that idea . He said blocks of each will show easier in next crop what works best on my place and oats are a curse for volunteers in next crop.

His straights at his suggested rates does come in a lot more expensive than I was planning to spend per hec compared to a oat mix .

Would spring oats at say 25kg/h , white mustard at 3 , tillage radish at 3 and phacelia at 1 , be a disaster?

He seemed to really like the crimson clover so maybe swap it for the phacelia if the phacelia is bad for self seeding ?

Area is stubble at moment , to be dunged then cover crop until drilling with wheat September , so guess June cover drilling?

He was also keen for me to plough for the cover crop establishment after dunging and top off the cover pre drilling wheat . I'd rather disc and combi then see what direct drill demos I can get for wheat drilling.

Have mzuri and horsch dealers close by, so potentially tine and disc if available.
Have just DD’d beans into dead cover crop. Spread a spreader full of muck out as well to see how well it could drill through it. Worked really well with no problems for the drill. Wouldn’t have any worries about drilling a cover through muck as long as it’s not too thick and the muck can dry out fairly well before.
 
I was hoping to get a demo of a 4m Sumo DTS this autumn but there are no machines at the dealer & the dealer said it will be next year before I can get a demo. Sumo were closed due to Covid 19 and have a lot of drills to build and must have sold their demo machines...

Still hoping I can get a demo of a Mzuri this autumn. ?

Has anyone seen or had a demo of a Horsch Focus TD?
 

jh.

Member
Location
fife
I got a claydon demo in . Ground was winter capped and as hard as concrete , didn't think much of seed depth control so rolled it twice but it has probably been one of the most even emergence of any of the spring crops .

Still like look of mzuri but did think the claydon without the wheels running in cultivated and then seed boot strip , might have the edge in stickier going
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Dukes Fit

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
I was hoping to get a demo of a 4m Sumo DTS this autumn but there are no machines at the dealer & the dealer said it will be next year before I can get a demo. Sumo were closed due to Covid 19 and have a lot of drills to build and must have sold their demo machines...

Still hoping I can get a demo of a Mzuri this autumn. ?

Has anyone seen or had a demo of a Horsch Focus TD?
Is that Mackays?
 
L
I got a claydon demo in . Ground was winter capped and as hard as concrete , didn't think much of seed depth control so rolled it twice but it has probably been one of the most even emergence of any of the spring crops .

Still like look of mzuri but did think the claydon without the wheels running in cultivated and then seed boot strip , might have the edge in stickier going View attachment 877956View attachment 877957View attachment 877959
Looks great! ??
 

jock t

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Fife
How’s the crops looking you used the Claydon for @jh. did you try the drill on land you put the fym on? I’m hoping to demo one this backend but concerned how it will deal with large amounts of fym.
 

jh.

Member
Location
fife
We just had a wander through it walking the dog . Looking some of the best on the farm and holding on to it's colour. A bit weedy despite the 2 or 2.5 litres a hec of glyphosate morning of drilling . It does have possibly a bit of shading with the trees which has helped during drought as other parts of farm are similar . The mintill over the rest of that field looks pretty handy too , although there is a few acres at other end where the straw was chopped rather than baled , this chopped area does stick out now as being a bit patchier and later.

Never used the drill where dung was applied but would think if its well rotted and spread it should be okay
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