Spring barley 2020

[teslacoils]

Are wild oats an issue? Can you now just walk it? Not like you are going to have anything else to do all summer. As for PGR majority of ours doesn’t get any.

I hate walking barley. We don't get many wild oats, but sometimes tame oats as we often grow barley after spring oats.

 

[CJS]

Exactly, spring cereals need a different mindset to input heavy winter wheat

I’ve come to the conclusion that the weather is the biggest factor in spring barley yields

 

[Wombat]

Are wild oats an issue? Can you now just walk it? Not like you are going to have anything else to do all summer. As for PGR majority of ours doesn’t get any.

You couldn't walk through it here on some fields if you didn't axial it

 

[Brisel]

I’ve come to the conclusion that the weather is the biggest factor in spring barley yields

That and establishment timing & quality. Fungicide response in spring barley is quite low but ramularia is going to become more tricky in future with the loss of CTL.

 

[robbie]

Depends if you have an agronomist putting some ridiculously expensive herbicide and fungicide program on. We know we can grow 7t/ha with 100kgs N and a fungicide.
I know people with serviced agronomy who will do 150kg n, avadex flufenacet herb stack and 2/3 expensive fungicides and get less yield.
don’t let yourself be a slave to the supply trade and it can be profitable.
Personally I don’t understand how an agronomist can even justify their fee on spring crops, 90% of it is down to good establishment and the weather!

I think what your saying applies to all crops. I know some locally who complain that theres no money in cereals and then they list what they've applied to the crop and it's no wonder.
Most but not all have serviced agros and in some cases it's not just the shear amount of stuff they chuck at a crop but also the exclusives which really bumps up the cost of production.


My spring barley will be 185kg of FSS of the heap no dressing, a cheapy su+hormone, strobe and azole twice unless it's very clean or dying from drought, lashings of MN and axial for oats if I think its needed.
I am upping my N a bit this year as theres no point going for malting so i may aswell try for a bit extra yield.

Yield can range from 2-3.25 acre depending on drought but normally 2.75 plus in a decent year.

 

[Brisel]

No, not worth it, leave it to us Chalk Downland boys who regularly grow it






Or alternatively...
Can you grow SB reliably ?
If so, can you make a margin @ £130/t ? ( that’s what I could sell feed Barley for Nov ‘20 earlier this week )
If no to the above don’t bother !!

Seed supply ok at the moment here but changing rapidly, can’t help on price as mine is all FSS

This. My farm saved seed is dressed (net blotch found during testing) and ready to go when it dries up. I'm planting the usual 1/3 of my farm with it so threads like this make me sad when through bad autumn weather growers who'd otherwise be growing wheat are piling into barley.

To be fair to our heavy land brethren, we've been growing the likes of Skyfall and Group 2 milling varieties on light land for a few years so I guess there's a bit of karma at work. 2012 forced a lot of heavy land growers to grow spring barley when they couldn't get second wheat in. Many made malting with respectable yields & realised what a useful blackgrass management tool it is.

 

[sjt01]

You can all ease off on barley seed orders now - last load of Planet C2 about to leave the shed!

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

My neighbour drills in April seed off heap cheap weed killer one cheap fungercide 120kg n averaged 3.7 tons an acre over the past 3years

What land type and what cultivation / drilling strategy please.

 

[Brisel]

Most around here plough in Jan/Feb and sow in March, on light land.

 

[neilo]

I know a sb seed grower with 100s of tonnes of a popular variety in the shed. Can’t understand why the processor hasn’t moved it. It will all be needed surely

A local seed supplier was telling me a fortnight ago that they hadn’t seen any particular rush on SB seed. Folks still plugging away at getting some late WW in, and he reckoned Spring Wheat sales were up, but not SB.

 

[T Hectares]

This. My farm saved seed is dressed (net blotch found during testing) and ready to go when it dries up. I'm planting the usual 1/3 of my farm with it so threads like this make me sad when through bad autumn weather growers who'd otherwise be growing wheat are piling into barley.

To be fair to our heavy land brethren, we've been growing the likes of Skyfall and Group 2 milling varieties on light land for a few years so I guess there's a bit of karma at work. 2012 forced a lot of heavy land growers to grow spring barley when they couldn't get second wheat in. Many made malting with respectable yields & realised what a useful blackgrass management tool it is.

Hopefully the memories of delayed spring drilling in '18 and the subsequent drought is fresh in heavy land growers memories when they are ordering extra SB seed this week!!

 

[teslacoils]

Hopefully the memories of delayed spring drilling in '18 and the subsequent drought is fresh in heavy land growers memories when they are ordering extra SB seed this week!!

The memory was it was too wet to plant. Shoved fss oats in mid may. Did 2.66t/ac. Sold them for £192 a ton. Happy days. If I get an out put of say £350 grain from fss barley that will do for this year.

 

[T Hectares]

The memory was it was too wet to plant. Shoved fss oats in mid may. Did 2.66t/ac. Sold them for £192 a ton. Happy days. If I get an out put of say £350 grain from fss barley that will do for this year.

Shhh

I'm trying to put a few of you off...

I heard a few tales of 4t/ha after buying the seed in '18 chuck in £120/t feed barley this year and its not so rosy

 

[Wombat]

Shhh

I'm trying to put a few of you off...

I heard a few tales of 4t/ha after buying the seed in '18 chuck in £120/t feed barley this year and its not so rosy

We had some 4t/ha in 2018 but not a lot we could do about it, the wheat @£194 made up for it though

 

[lloyd]

Straw will be worth money again this harvest.
Round bale straw making £18 a bale today at Auction.
Baled 7 good bales SB straw here last year so important contributer
to the bottom line.
Make sure to get the timings right on growth reg on Planet though
or it could end in tears.

 

[Hindsight]

make me sad when through bad autumn weather growers who'd otherwise be growing wheat are piling into barley.

Be even sadder if you read this AHDB report from today.

Is barley still at risk from cheap maize?

http://link.ahdb.org.uk/m/1/45178595/p1-b20043-58a982c7f5bb4c63ba14a736a42b93c1/2/758/9b0cb687-d012-4c11-b2d8-046fb65e7781

 

[teslacoils]

Might be desperate for any grain they can get come harvest.

 

[Brisel]

Straw will be worth money again this harvest.
Round bale straw making £18 a bale today at Auction.
Baled 7 good bales SB straw here last year so important contributer
to the bottom line.
Make sure to get the timings right on growth reg on Planet though
or it could end in tears.

How did your friend get the pgr timing wrong? Terpal onto the ears?

 

[ploughman1963]

Enquired about Planet a couple of weeks ago and sold out - good old Westminster was available though

 

[T Hectares]

I think what your saying applies to all crops. I know some locally who complain that theres no money in cereals and then they list what they've applied to the crop and it's no wonder.
Most but not all have serviced agros and in some cases it's not just the shear amount of stuff they chuck at a crop but also the exclusives which really bumps up the cost of production.


My spring barley will be 185kg of FSS of the heap no dressing, a cheapy su+hormone, strobe and azole twice unless it's very clean or dying from drought, lashings of MN and axial for oats if I think its needed.
I am upping my N a bit this year as theres no point going for malting so i may aswell try for a bit extra yield.

Yield can range from 2-3.25 acre depending on drought but normally 2.75 plus in a decent year.

You could shave off a few more £££/ha by swapping from Axial to Foxtrot