Written by cpm
Download PDF Spring barley has been part of the cropping mix for the past five years on a Shropshire farm. CPM visits to find out how on-farm trials are helping develop a successful approach to how it’s grown. It’s part of learning to do things differently. By Tom Allen-Stevens The bright green lines of Propino direct-drilled spring barley stand out in the sunshine against the dying cover crop residue. The crop appears to have established well into Andrew Williamson’s silty clay loam, with an even germination and barely a patch across the field betraying the limitations of the current parched conditions. But Andrew’s not altogether happy. He takes a penknife and prises a few seedlings from their well sealed slot. “It may look a good crop, but we’re struggling to get the seed drilled to a consistent depth. You have to give spring barley every chance to perform as it has such a narrow season, particularly when it turns dry.” The crop has formed part of the rotation for the past five years across the 320ha of undulating land at Upper Overton Farm, near Bridgnorth, Shrops. A cropping mix that previously included wheat, oats and oilseed rape – all autumn-sown…
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