Selectamatic's Farming Thread.

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
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Now, this isn't my paddock, its part of the dairy farm my wife works on.
They were intending to roll the grass seed in, but then it rained soon after and they didn't worry. You can see how the wheelings have come away much faster with the soil/seed contact and extra moisture.
So nothing to worry about with your nice barley field, it looks grand!
 

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
Woohoo!! Some rain! :)

Not enough really, but enough to make the place green up a bit! I'm very pleased with the barley, and what weeds there are are now well and truly out, so in a few days I will be spraying it to get rid them, along with some manganese to address the lighter stripes, as recommended by some grown ups on here! Rabbits have damaged it in small patches, but not too bad and hopefully they are under control now.

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What is due to be hay is also coming along, although I cant help but think there should be more of it by now, haymaking here is another two months off yet though...

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The rain that landed on the spuds dried off as soon as it landed by the looks, although one or two of the first early ones are just poking out now, no sign of any others yet, a bit early yet I'd guess.

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:)
 

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
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Now, this isn't my paddock, its part of the dairy farm my wife works on.
They were intending to roll the grass seed in, but then it rained soon after and they didn't worry. You can see how the wheelings have come away much faster with the soil/seed contact and extra moisture.
So nothing to worry about with your nice barley field, it looks grand!

Paddock?! That's not a chuffin' paddock!

The rest will catch up though, surely?
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Paddock?! That's not a chuffin' paddock!

The rest will catch up though, surely?
Its been grazed off now and the marks are still just as visible but the rest will catch up in time.. will be a weedy one though I'd imagine the thistles and docks will love a good head start.
That's a dairy paddock :eek::eek: you should come over one day and see the bits that they don't milk cows off. Steep as a chook's face down here, lame sheep don't know they're lame til they get down to the yards ;)
I had a night job once- holding a combine on it's wheels with a big tractor and straps- as they harvested wheat off a hill. Had to help keep the steerers on the ground mainly but also stop it sliding away. (y)
 

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
Its been grazed off now and the marks are still just as visible but the rest will catch up in time.. will be a weedy one though I'd imagine the thistles and docks will love a good head start.
That's a dairy paddock :eek::eek: you should come over one day and see the bits that they don't milk cows off. Steep as a chook's face down here, lame sheep don't know they're lame til they get down to the yards ;)
I had a night job once- holding a combine on it's wheels with a big tractor and straps- as they harvested wheat off a hill. Had to help keep the steerers on the ground mainly but also stop it sliding away. (y)

A friend of mine pulls a forage wagon up to some crackers places, with two tractors sometimes. Places that would cause brown pants with me! Often wondered if it, and stuff like you talk about, is worth it...?
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
A friend of mine pulls a forage wagon up to some crackers places, with two tractors sometimes. Places that would cause brown pants with me! Often wondered if it, and stuff like you talk about, is worth it...?
It grows better crops in many cases than the easy stuff, which has been 'improved' for so long. Much less weed issues and soil structure is as nature intended, so it makes it very cost effective to pull a good wheat or barley crop off it before putting decent pasture in. Hardly needs any fert to do it either, and just a blat of retardant/fungicide with an aircraft was all it had. Pleased it didn't have tramlines to be honest!!
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
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This is the closest arable farm to me, too steep to flip a reversible 5 furrow on some of it. They grow really good crops but getting it off in time is their main issue (currently strip feeding oats to ewes in places) because of rainfall just as it gets fit.
Ruined duckshooting :mad: :) that's where all the ducks are.
 

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
The weeds have popped up after the recent small amount of rain that we had, so I got the sprayer out earlier and gave the barley a squirt.

Put the new sprayer on my favourite tractor, and possibly the best tractor ever built, my father's 880.

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I'm very happy with my new sprayer, it's a novelty, and a welcome change to go spraying with something that has a decent boom length, does not need hoses and nozzles looking at before starting, and the pump that's not directly mounted to the PTO, bouncing about like a nunnery after lights out. I asked for a suction line on it, so I can fill from tanks, water troughs and the like, and that also does the job well! All round good sprayer! :)

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Sprayed some manganese on it, as well as a product called "Answer SX" to clean up the chickweed, thistles, nettles etc that are starting to show up.

When I grow up, I want to be a arable farmer! :)
 
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DeeGee

Member
Location
North East Wales
You!! Thank you for your help.

Also Merfyn Parry, Country Crops.

Ah yes, Merfyn Parry, a good lad, has been walking crops here for about thirty years now, some say that I've taught him everything he knows but of course I am far too modest to ever repeat that in public.
A very capable and honest lad, he will never try and recommend stuff if you don't really need it: you can trust him implicitly Emyr.

PS Is this okay Merfyn? Will you put the cheque in the post tomorrow as promised or do I have to take you to the small claims court as I did last time?
 

Chuckie

Member
Location
England
The weeds have popped up after the recent small amount of rain that we had, so I got the sprayer out earlier and gave the barley a squirt.

Put the new sprayer on my favourite tractor, and possibly the best tractor ever built, my father's 880.

View attachment 519694

I'm very happy with my new sprayer, it's a novelty, and a welcome change to go spraying with something that has a decent boom length, does not need hoses and nozzles looking at before starting, and the pump that's not directly mounted to the PTO, bouncing about like a nunnery after lights out. I asked for a suction line on it, so I can fill from tanks, water troughs and the like, and that also does the job well! All round good sprayer! :)

View attachment 519700

Sprayed some manganese on it, as well as a product called "Answer SX" to clean up the chickweed, thistles, nettles etc that are starting to show up.

When I grow up, I want to be a arable farmer! :)

What size is that sprayer, and what kind of money are they new? cheers
 
Evening all!

Quite an enjoyable day today, the farming year has started again for me!

Sprayed the greenery off on my swede and barley stubble fields, hopefully will plough in a fortnight or so.

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Also, while the tractor was there, Mrs S had a bit of tractor driving experience this afternoon, levelling old molehills and pulling out some moss with a set of chain harrows.

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Some of you who know me outside this TFF malarkey will know that I brought a small piece of land, almost exactly a year ago. Happily I have now got some planning permission for a modest agricultural building to be built on it, mainly to keep the tractors, machinery, tools etc under one roof.

The shed is ordered, will be fabricated and delivered soon, quite looking forward to seeing it going up.

Because a little bit of digging, levelling etc will be needed, and while the sprayer was on, I squirted a bit on to the shed site, closer the time I will plough or rotavate the patch, making it easier to remove what soil's needed from there.

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:)

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snap on the sprayer
 

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
Today is nothing really to do with farming, but I thought it was as good a place as anywhere to put some photos...

Mrs S and I had a ride out to the David Brown Tractor Club museum at Meltham today, quite literally opposite the factory that used to build DB Tractors. There was a open day of their museum and a auction of all things DB, brought in by various members, auctioned off to others.

Well, when I got there I saw a tractor, a David Brown 1212, very similar to our own that is awaiting a head gasket at the moment.

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I saw it, and fell in love with it, thinking that it was a very tidy, well kept, original thing. At the auction, I ended up buying it!!

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Because I'm a sadcase on an industrial scale, I could not help but drive it over to the factory carpark to take a few photos. The building is obviously nothing to do with the tractors any further, the buildings now house various businesses, including a heat treatment company, who built their business on the skills gained while DB ran the show.

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I assume that it is 43 years since this old girl drove through these gates... I wonder what will have happened in the next 43 years...?

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SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 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

  • 1,292
  • 1
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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