Spring cropping, are you starting?

Breckland Boy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Breckland
Yes I have some spring barley drilled. It's up and looks nice down the rows. Needs Mn if weather allows.
Still have more to drill after beet but won't do any untill early Feb depending on temperatures.
 
Spring barley seed only just started arriving on farm round this way. Would be able to drill onto fresh ploughed work if we wanted to, think I will give it a little while before I am tempted to go.
Have drilled very early in the past and seen no real yield advantage, plus slow emergence means having to keep our resident massive flock of crows off it. Increasing amount of local residents seem to be totally intolerant when it comes to gas gun type birds scarers nowadays, yet they are still the most effective.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Spring barley seed only just started arriving on farm round this way. Would be able to drill onto fresh ploughed work if we wanted to, think I will give it a little while before I am tempted to go.
Have drilled very early in the past and seen no real yield advantage, plus slow emergence means having to keep our resident massive flock of crows off it. Increasing amount of local residents seem to be totally intolerant when it comes to gas gun type birds scarers nowadays, yet they are still the most effective.

I have some SB seed ordered, but told them I don’t want delivery before March (as payment month following). No intention of drilling any before April, when it might be warming up.

Surely any seed put in now is just going to sit there, then emerge slowly if we get a slightly warmer spell, just in time to feed rooks over winter when they have few other feed sources to distract them?:scratchhead:
 

radar

Member
Mixed Farmer
Wouldn't consider drilling on this heavy land yet, but there might be an opportunity to pull a pig tail through some land thjs week to try and create a seed bed ready to combi drill into. At the moment has only had one joker pass to get a black grass flush, now sprayed off for 4 weeks.
 

radar

Member
Mixed Farmer
Is that a trap like when the stock market falls and has a rise and everyone jumps on then falls further next day?

The reason i asked if its ploughed land and starts raining??

Only interested as i know sqat about uk weather patterns.

Ant...
Think UK weather patterns like Aussie - either doesn't rain or forgets to stop. Land has only had a Horsch Joker through so still fairly firm. Moving it now rather than in front of the drill should mean we wont loose seedbed moisture if we do get a dry spring.
 
Think UK weather patterns like Aussie - either doesn't rain or forgets to stop. Land has only had a Horsch Joker through so still fairly firm. Moving it now rather than in front of the drill should mean we wont loose seedbed moisture if we do get a dry spring.

Steady i am in Portland, Vic - and my rainfall might vary 100mm out of the 950 or so a year if lucky. its very reliable and that's why i shifted here and boy m i having the last laugh now with all these droughts and frosts, i got an ear full of its to wet its to cold. I don't hold back in letting people know either, they didn't when i shifted here.

Ant...
 

radar

Member
Mixed Farmer
Steady i am in Portland, Vic - and my rainfall might vary 100mm out of the 950 or so a year if lucky. its very reliable and that's why i shifted here and boy m i having the last laugh now with all these droughts and frosts, i got an ear full of its to wet its to cold. I don't hold back in letting people know either, they didn't when i shifted here.

Ant...
Hell- much more than the average 570 here and we think thats wet! (eastern England although a lot more in the west)
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
Yep i was aware the eastern part of UK in areas is like the old 24" rainfall, we have alot of area like that but no one attempts spring cropping in those parts, however our winters would be very different i imagine.

Ant...

Yup in a normal year we get very little evaporation from late oct to March and most of it goes out the drains
 
Drilling ww after beet here today, the ground has hazed out a treat and conditions are perfect.
It was a toss up between barley and wheat. Dad said he prefers combining wheat so we went with that, the next field after beet which well finish lifting after we've finished drilling will go in spring barley hopefully later next week.

Crack on, I say

View attachment 753726
Planning on drilling wheat in our last lift of beet tomorrow, just wondering what seed rate your at as its a long time since drilled ww in Jan? Going with 300kg about 530 seeds/m, crows are main worry, will go in well.
 
Starting spring barley here tomorrow. Ground conditions are so good it would be rude not to!

Never drilled it this early but keen to give it a go.... I’ve heard more success stories of late that I need to try it myself.
 

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