Recreational Cultivating?

[teslacoils]

We will see how things change in a post-glyphosate world.

 

[ajd132]

We will see how things change in a post-glyphosate world.

Conventional farming is f**ked without glyphosate? I can not afford to do all the cultivation’s my organic neighbour does with a conventional wheat price!
If anything no till/ mulching, inter row weeding, stripper heading etc will become even more important post glyphosate.

 

[PSQ]

nothing perfect about my farm sadly and many of my neighbours grow fantastic looking. crops and are very good farmers. Far better than me in many cases and i suspect many (if not most of them) are members or read TFF

can’t recall posting otherwise frankly !

Would this be a good time to point out that the TFF search engine is really good? ? :

big toys (609hp challanger, JD85 etc) all went here, staff were not bothered really, Get them onside and they will see the stupidity of 20t / 500hp plus kit and enjoy the fact they can have a family life outside of work, even in august / September, pay them the same but for less and everyone's a winner, they will be more motivated, less likely to leave and committed to make it work for you ?? We need much less and much cheaper kit so what we do need we can afford the very best and newest of, fendts, batemans, claas and RTK in every machine and option boxes ticked for comforts etc making the job easier and more comfortable, I think that's more relevant to a driver than just big stuff ??

My guys don't care about "street cred" ! they laugh neighbouring recreational cultivation, nothing funnier to them, than watching others wasting time, fuel and metal ! (bit bad I know !)

successfully zero-till needs a very skilled operator who is more than just a good driver, you need to give them some agronomic education as well so they are in a position to make decisions as well as just drive

I have staff now that are every bit as boring as myself re zero-till so job done here I think !!

 

[teslacoils]

We will see. This year aside, an extra pass is usually worth it for increased pre em effectiveness and yield consistency for me. My future is decidedly less arable, and will revert to a plough to get out of the grassland.

 

[Lowland1]

When I was a kid we would drag our stubbles at least 3 or 4 times to kill the twitch. Long ways , Cross ways and diagonal. I was away at school and could n't wait to get back get on a tractor at get at the stubbles , rotavating was brilliant as it left everything so neat. Now I only get on a tractor on a Sunday. and I can usually find something to drag, rip or disc. So yes recreational tillage still goes on.

 

[GeorgeK]

There wouldn't be many fields that would take wide, modern machinery without the years of cultivation that have levelled them and allowed the rocks to be pulled out so you're not snapping bits off the direct drill on the same stones buried just under the surface every year

 

[Days of thunder]

I will buy a lot of roundup which will keep me going and it will be cheaper than some fancy direct drill

 

[Clive]

Would this be a good time to point out that the TFF search engine is really good? ? :

so what ? yes my guys do find watching others “wasting” time and fuel amusing (as I do myself) when i know how pointless it often is and how hard it is to make a decent margin when doing so

but that’s certainly not me saying they are bad farmers - most of my neighbours grow fantastic looking crops and run very tidy looking farms that probably out yield me, I do wonder how some of them make any money however sometimes !

as i say i don’t recall saying otherwise ?

 

[Phil P]

Would this be a good time to point out that the TFF search engine is really good? ? :

And let’s not forget this one, think it was about recreational cultivation ?

What have I done !

I really can’t explain why but after spreading some muck / compost / biosolid on some land going into OSR this month I decided it would be a good idea to subsoil it ! This is a block that has been 10 years no till, it has great structure but now my moment of maddens and misjudgement has left...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[Clive]

we have actually been cultivating this week however !

it’s not ALWAYS pointless- just mostly !

 

[Clive]

And let’s not forget this one, think it was about recreational cultivation ?

What have I done !

I really can’t explain why but after spreading some muck / compost / biosolid on some land going into OSR this month I decided it would be a good idea to subsoil it ! This is a block that has been 10 years no till, it has great structure but now my moment of maddens and misjudgement has left...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

as above it’s MOSTLY pointless is what “almost ALL” means - there are rare occasions where it’s a good idea

and i’m a long way from perfect - that was thread me pointing that out - i cultivated and it really wasn’t needed / caused more problems ........... so a perfect example of my point in this thread thanks

btw - the osr in that post has become linseed now so cultivation did not grow a crop !

 

[Mr Charisma]

Zero till systems fail because of poor management. The actually systems and machinery are not the problem. But of course farmers are notoriously bad for blaming all their problems on other things and never themselves.
really annoys me when you see people slagging certain drills and systems when you know full well their knowledge extends to picking up a can of chemical someone has told them to put on.

I'm just crap then ? had another go at DDing this spring and although not a disaster I just know its going to fall well short of my conventional crops , although I admit in a different situation to my other crops , this was drilled with a gd drill into a sprayed out ley , very happy how it went in and the rolls sealed the slots well but although there was plenty of moisture when drilling I think the cruel winds we had transpired the moisture out of the slit , can this happen , I keep on trying with dd and I don't think I'm stupid but I can't get it to work for me , I wish I could , though when we had our soils group events some clever chap told me that in his experience red marl is the most difficult soil to get consistent results on , he reckoned his lias clays were far easier

 

[7610 super q]

Recreational cultivation is cheaper than recreational machinery buying.

 

[ajd132]

I'm just crap then ? had another go at DDing this spring and although not a disaster I just know its going to fall well short of my conventional crops , although I admit in a different situation to my other crops , this was drilled with a gd drill into a sprayed out ley , very happy how it went in and the rolls sealed the slots well but although there was plenty of moisture when drilling I think the cruel winds we had transpired the moisture out of the slit , can this happen , I keep on trying with dd and I don't think I'm stupid but I can't get it to work for me , I wish I could , though when we had our soils group events some clever chap told me that in his experience red marl is the most difficult soil to get consistent results on , he reckoned his lias clays were far easier

I can totally understand it being too unreliable on some of the more extreme soils. We have a few kinder fields here and ridiculous how easy it is to zero till compared to the heavier bits.

 

[rob h]

I’m open minded to different drilling methods .but looking over the hedge at locals with more land and money who have over the years tried just about every new drill that’s supposed to be so mutch better than the last .non have stuck with direct drilling with no
9

don’t blame the drill or the soil type

Still waiting to hear why the drill would not work

 

[Chae1]

Need the yawn emoji.

 

[ajd132]

Still waiting to hear why the drill would not work

Probably because the soil is not in good enough condition yet. We have been doing a gradual transition because most of our land is owned by others and the bank so can’t afford loss of failures. Seems to be working. As I said earlier our few fields of easier soil are a hundred time’s easier to dd than the clay. Think a lot of the light land dd’ers don’t appreciate this. Long term though I think self structuring clay soils like ours will have the most benefit by being dd’d.

 

[rob h]

Soil not in bad condition but the top was dry and hard while underneath was wet .

 

[ajd132]

Soil not in bad condition but the top was dry and hard while underneath was wet .

Probably just a case of using the wrong drill, a tine drill would better in the conditions you describe.

 

[rob h]

Probably just a case of using the wrong drill, a tine drill would better in the conditions you describe.

Probably right.i think its been a spring when tined cultivators have been best