Slugs

[Brisel]

what u need is some one twisting on saying u can see how the drill has done a better job at slower speeds sharp gets in your head, nobody likes hearing I told you so

I think I understand what you're saying.

1/3 less output by slowing down when the weather is closing in is not worth it on tricky land that frankly may well need the extra dose of pellets anyway. I'm already a week behind where I want to be thanks to late deliveries of seed. 7mm rain this morning means we won't get much sowing done this weekend.

 

[Badshot]

I planted a cover of oats, vetch, oil radish into chopped winter wheat straw.
Plenty slugs there, but I didn't want to pellet just for a cover.
Think there's gonna be some bare areas though.

 

[Badshot]

I think I understand what you're saying.

1/3 less output by slowing down when the weather is closing in is not worth it on tricky land that frankly may well need the extra dose of pellets anyway. I'm already a week behind where I want to be thanks to late deliveries of seed. 7mm rain this morning means we won't get much sowing done this weekend.

I take it it's wetter with you?
It's bloody dry here still
Been raining this afternoon so fingers crossed I'll get drilling again Monday.

 

[juke]

I think I understand what you're saying.

1/3 less output by slowing down when the weather is closing in is not worth it on tricky land that frankly may well need the extra dose of pellets anyway. I'm already a week behind where I want to be thanks to late deliveries of seed. 7mm rain this morning means we won't get much sowing done this weekend.

how much you got left to do ? . are you managing a 100 acre a day easy enough with your 6 meter ?

 

[Brisel]

I take it it's wetter with you?
It's bloody dry here still
Been raining this afternoon so fingers crossed I'll get drilling again Monday.

I think the band of rain I had is heading your way. Still, the crops already sown will enjoy the drink.

 

[Brisel]

how much you got left to do ? . are you managing a 100 acre a day easy enough with your 6 meter ?

Not at 9 kph.

 

[juke]

Not at 9 kph.

is a lot of your drilling in small fields?, we are doing 50 acre with a 3m drill in an 11 hour day.... that's with seed close by.

 

[Robert]

is a lot of your drilling in small fields?, we are doing 50 acre with a 3m drill in an 11 hour day.... that's with seed close by.

At 9kph?

 

[juke]

At 9kph?

yep isn't to difficult , get in good sized fields n you sharp get across ,

 

[Brisel]

is a lot of your drilling in small fields?, we are doing 50 acre with a 3m drill in an 11 hour day.... that's with seed close by.

Lots of small fields. No block cropping either for "sporting" reasons. Lots of moving about. I used to have 3-4 fields in a nice 200 acre block. Now they are all subdivided and spread out.

 

[juke]

Lots of small fields. No block cropping either for "sporting" reasons. Lots of moving about. I used to have 3-4 fields in a nice 200 acre block. Now they are all subdivided and spread out.

makes life more tricky...

 

[yellow belly]

Agree with Clive
No pellets here last year or so far this year
If I used a strip drill this year it would be at a very slow speed to eliminate ridging if you get a ridge in dry heavy soil the only solution is to cross roll
We did this on cultivated land after the Moore drill which left a ridge
With a gd low disturbance no rolling needed a good take of rape volunteers give the slugs plenty of rape to go at before the wheat is at 3 leaf stage last year no slug pellets yet others who cultivate pre and post pelleted needlessly imho
I have found slugs on land after beans but not in big numbers 1 every 20 m when walking fields
Will look tomorrow after today’s rain

 

[Richard III]

do you know whats causing the yellowing of rape leaves there ?

Not really, the volunteers haven't looked too happy on this field all autumn. It's heavy, crappy land, been bone dry, then 45mm of rain the day after drilling and then sprayed with roundup.

 

[martian]

Not really, the volunteers haven't looked too happy on this field all autumn. It's heavy, crappy land, been bone dry, then 45mm of rain the day after drilling and then sprayed with roundup.

The roundup has probably helped the yellowing. In theory, healthy plants can protect themselves from slugs, and the slugs would rather take on decaying matter, so: let nature take its course. Like you Richard, we find that by the time the rape's all been eaten, the wheat is strong enough to put them off and the beetle (and other slug predator) population has built up enough to keep slug numbers low. I think Clive is right in suggesting that you ignore instructions to spray insecticides to stop aphids carrying BYDV into the wheat (or at any other time, come to that) then you won't be inadvertently wiping out the beetles and other beneficial species.

No prophylactic pellet applications done here for years and hardly any firefighting needed. There are slugs, they are doing a job, just need to farm around them. Easy to say in a dry year, I know, but it works for us. Got a huge farmland bird population too. You know, all those species which we're told are on the amber or red lists...

 

[SilliamWhale]

The roundup has probably helped the yellowing. In theory, healthy plants can protect themselves from slugs, and the slugs would rather take on decaying matter, so: let nature take its course. Like you Richard, we find that by the time the rape's all been eaten, the wheat is strong enough to put them off and the beetle (and other slug predator) population has built up enough to keep slug numbers low. I think Clive is right in suggesting that you ignore instructions to spray insecticides to stop aphids carrying BYDV into the wheat (or at any other time, come to that) then you won't be inadvertently wiping out the beetles and other beneficial species.

No prophylactic pellet applications done here for years and hardly any firefighting needed. There are slugs, they are doing a job, just need to farm around them. Easy to say in a dry year, I know, but it works for us. Got a huge farmland bird population too. You know, all those species which we're told are on the amber or red lists...

Have you got any resident linnets or yellowhammers?

 

[martian]

Have you got any resident linnets or yellowhammers?

Swarms of the brutes.

 

[yellow belly]

Looked this morning after 12 mm of rain wheat just emerging
Not a slug to be seen or damage present on volunteers and weeds
Back in August on newly planted osr after a rain slugs were controlled as there was nothing else in the field and slugs would have had the rape before the flea beetle This morning no sign of slugs in new rape crops

I would always keep a close eye on extralegal field with no volunteer rape they suffer the worst damage if seed bed is not fine and well consolidated

 

[Richard III]

Have you got any resident linnets or yellowhammers?

Plenty of yellow hammers here and linnets flock up and spend the winter on the oilseed rape stubbles (ULD drilled with wheat).

The skylarks seem to be flocking up now, I'll sometimes put up 100 or more from a small area, when crossing a field.

 

[Louis Mc]

Pelleted wheat drilled after rape but nothing else, doesn’t look like we will need to either

 

[mikep]

One observation this year. Following last autumn we only got two fields of wheat planted the rest bar W Linseed went in to canary seed or SB, SO.
This autumn I drilled some oats straight from the combine into the wheat stubble. Of this I lost 75% to slugs, wasn't too worried as it was only got a bit of cover. Wheat was planted early September on the linseed and canary stubbles and not a slug to be seen really. The barley stubble had greened up and no sign of slugs there either. Seems that for some reason wheat had become a slug magnet here.