Press reset or fallow

[Will 1594]

Been asked to farm a bit more for another neighbour ,
one field ,nice land but has ,big patch of blackgrass probably a 3 rd of 35 acre , looks like an established ley now ,been sprayed off 10 days ,
going spring wheat ,
plough ,and get clean start ,and throw every thing at it , or drill through the thatch , and still throw every thing at it ,
will come spuds and beet next year ,
want 3 spring crops ,to get chance to clean it up ,but he wants roots in the mix ,
can get a minimal disturbance drill to sow it if need to , but the bg is thick

 

[Laggard]

Do you have to go spring wheat? Spring barley more competitive against blackgrass than spring wheat.

 

[teslacoils]

Thick BG will be toxic to DD wheat. You'll have good chance to clean it up in potatos and beet. If it's lightish, I'd black it over and start again.

 

[Flat 10]

I vote plough spring barley. Don’t throw too much chem at it just lash on the seed and drill a bit later than normal

 

[Lincsman]

Plough if it wasnt last year and get some cleaner soil up.

 

[Will 1594]

Do you have to go spring wheat? Spring barley more competitive against blackgrass than spring wheat.

It’s quite fertile black land ,
Can you keep barley stood up ?
it nice silt and black will plough nice , not been ploughed for 3 years.

 

[Flat 10]

It’s quite fertile black land ,
Can you keep barley stood up ?
it nice silt and black will plough nice , not been ploughed for 3 years.

Mmmm now you making things harder. I don’t like combining laid barley on black land

 

[Spencer]

Mmmm now you making things harder. I don’t like combining laid barley on black land

Least you don’t have to worry about picking up stones...

 

[D14]

Been asked to farm a bit more for another neighbour ,
one field ,nice land but has ,big patch of blackgrass probably a 3 rd of 35 acre , looks like an established ley now ,been sprayed off 10 days ,
going spring wheat ,
plough ,and get clean start ,and throw every thing at it , or drill through the thatch , and still throw every thing at it ,
will come spuds and beet next year ,
want 3 spring crops ,to get chance to clean it up ,but he wants roots in the mix ,
can get a minimal disturbance drill to sow it if need to , but the bg is thick

If its going potatoes and beet it will be ploughed so if you plough it down now they will plough it back up. BG if ploughed then needs to not be inverted for 8 years to ensure the originally ploughing kills a large percentage. If I was you I would go spring barley now via DD. Then get them to plough it very deep, circa 14 inches but only work their crops to a depth of 10 inches leaving the 4 inches of BG down there. W have had good experience of doing this with potatoes.

 

[Flat 10]

Least you don’t have to worry about picking up stones...

Black land and laid barley will drive a man insane. It doesn’t cut it just comes in the front roots and all or drives in front it’s not good.

 

[T Hectares]

Fallow if SB will be an issue, shallow cultivate a few times and spray off several times before spuds and beet
“Chucking everything” at a spring crop is kind of futile from a residual point of view and if the contacts worked the BG wouldn’t be there ??
Take a year to get it right, use the roots to sort it and the Wheat following should have its best start

 

[snipe]

Have you though about triticale. Even more competitive than spring barley and a larger chemistry choice. Ours yielded (2.8t/ac), better than our spring barley and nearly twice the straw.

 

[snipe]

Could you whole crop it for AD plant or stock feed if the Bg got too bad.

 

[Spencer]

Black land and laid barley will drive a man insane. It doesn’t cut it just comes in the front roots and all or drives in front it’s not good.

I know.., we have a bit of black stuff. Still prefer that to flat barley on stoney ground that farmer promised he rolled, then remembers actually that field got missed after the rocks gone up the front

 

[Adeptandy]

How’s potatoes going to clean it ? Been there, done that, nothing like a rotary cultivator to mix 9” of BG through the profile

 

[Brisel]

I'd see what your neighbour will be comfortable with & it will depend on the terms of the agreement you have with them. I'd reset it by fallowing & getting as many chits of black grass as possible with repeated light tickles of the top few inches. Root crops will not help at all. As above, they will just leave bare soil to encourage them to grow, few decent herbicides to control it & the bed tillers will mix the considerable bank of seed throughout the profile, if it isn't already. I'd look at drain ends, pH, soil structure etc too. There's a reason BG has flourished where it shouldn't and it's not just mismanagement.

I'm currently having a discussion with a contract farming client about fallowing a % of their land this spring where it has been in a waterlogged stubble since September and has a carpet of black grass on it. We're paid a fixed fee to crop it but this would perpetuate the current cycle of late sown spring crops, a late harvest and compromised following winter crop establishment. I want to reset it, fix the drains, clean it up and get an early start this autumn. I've offered to forego the fee minus the extra work to fix it - short term pain for a longer term gain.

 

[teslacoils]

There must be an underlying reason. BG really shouldn't be a problem on spring- ploughable land.

 

[Lincsman]

I'd see what your neighbour will be comfortable with & it will depend on the terms of the agreement you have with them. I'd reset it by fallowing & getting as many chits of black grass as possible with repeated light tickles of the top few inches. Root crops will not help at all. As above, they will just leave bare soil to encourage them to grow, few decent herbicides to control it & the bed tillers will mix the considerable bank of seed throughout the profile, if it isn't already. I'd look at drain ends, pH, soil structure etc too. There's a reason BG has flourished where it shouldn't and it's not just mismanagement.

I'm currently having a discussion with a contract farming client about fallowing a % of their land this spring where it has been in a waterlogged stubble since September and has a carpet of black grass on it. We're paid a fixed fee to crop it but this would perpetuate the current cycle of late sown spring crops, a late harvest and compromised following winter crop establishment. I want to reset it, fix the drains, clean it up and get an early start this autumn. I've offered to forego the fee minus the extra work to fix it - short term pain for a longer term gain.

An early start in the autumn is generally how this situation occurred, its not been ploughed for 3 years, so with nice soil it will plough up clean enough soil for a spring crop, without blackgrass affecting yield.

 

[Brisel]

An early start in the autumn is generally how this situation occurred, its not been ploughed for 3 years, so with nice soil it will plough up clean enough soil for a spring crop, without blackgrass affecting yield.

All good points, but that BG will be ploughed back up next year when it goes into roots. I was thinking of cleaning it now - I'll bet it has BG underneath too. @Will 1594 will you be growing the roots for them too in future?

 

[Adeptandy]

There must be an underlying reason. BG really shouldn't be a problem on spring- ploughable land.

Black Fenland doesn't rot seed like other soils, it does a good job of preserving it, doesn't help with weed control.
I ploughed a bad BG field last year that hadn't seen a plough for 10+ years to try and reset, BG was just as bad.