Strip-tilling soya

[Ruston3w]

I have been tempted to try some soya beans this year, they will replace strip-tilled beet in the rotation.
We are doing our best to minimise cultivations, within the limitations of still growing a reduced root crop acreage and cereal wise it is going ok(mostly).
Both fields are sandy loam, both have a decent radish based cover at the moment, I doubt that they will be open enough in April to DD the soya.
I would like to strip till a little ahead of sowing to allow the soil to warm up, but that is just my feeling now, maybe by the end of April best keep as much moisture as poss and single pass sow?
Any thoughts on either; Simtech dd if spade allows,
Sub-soil, then as above
Strip-till, leave to settle/warm, maize drill,
Hire claydon to loosen/seed
Richard.

 

[Farmer Roy]

I have been tempted to try some soya beans this year, they will replace strip-tilled beet in the rotation.
We are doing our best to minimise cultivations, within the limitations of still growing a reduced root crop acreage and cereal wise it is going ok(mostly).
Both fields are sandy loam, both have a decent radish based cover at the moment, I doubt that they will be open enough in April to DD the soya.
I would like to strip till a little ahead of sowing to allow the soil to warm up, but that is just my feeling now, maybe by the end of April best keep as much moisture as poss and single pass sow?
Any thoughts on either; Simtech dd if spade allows,
Sub-soil, then as above
Strip-till, leave to settle/warm, maize drill,
Hire claydon to loosen/seed
Richard.

Err, not knowing anything about your soils, location or farm . .

1 - if moisture conservation a key, then spray out / terminate cover crop once it has achieved good cover, preferably a few months prior to planting with a precision double disc planter ( I assume that's what you mean by maize planter )

2 - if moisture conservation isn't important, you have high moisture levels & reliable rainfall, I would plant straight into living cover with above planter, then terminate

3 - if you need bare ground for soil warmth etc, then yes, I would strip till as they do in the US, with a thin strip of tilled ground in the plant row to allow it to warm quicker. If I was to do this, I'd want to do it early enough for the soil to settle down again & build up moisture again
Plant with " maize planter"

 

[Simon Chiles]

I have been tempted to try some soya beans this year, they will replace strip-tilled beet in the rotation.
We are doing our best to minimise cultivations, within the limitations of still growing a reduced root crop acreage and cereal wise it is going ok(mostly).
Both fields are sandy loam, both have a decent radish based cover at the moment, I doubt that they will be open enough in April to DD the soya.
I would like to strip till a little ahead of sowing to allow the soil to warm up, but that is just my feeling now, maybe by the end of April best keep as much moisture as poss and single pass sow?
Any thoughts on either; Simtech dd if spade allows,
Sub-soil, then as above
Strip-till, leave to settle/warm, maize drill,
Hire claydon to loosen/seed
Richard.

The two most important factors when establishing Soya are a warm seedbed and moisture conservation. Soya has big juicy cotyledons that the pigeons just love so you need it to grow quickly through that emerging stage, once it has its true leaves then you are safe, the pigeons may still take the cotyledons but they’ll leave the hairy leaves alone. Secondly you need to preserve the moisture for the rhizobium to kick in so that it can then fix its own nitrogen. I’d be cautious about both the Claydon and T Sem unless your fields are very level. Soya has a fixed length hypocotyl so cannot tolerate uneven ( too deep ) seeding.

 

[Stevethemeat]

I’m following this post with interest as soya is a crop I would love to grow to reduce the volatility of bought in soya for Pig Feed
I’m on the border of wiltshire/somerset But have insufficient land of my own if any one wanted to join forces on growing for an end user or share cropping

 

[Simon Chiles]

I’m following this post with interest as soya is a crop I would love to grow to reduce the volatility of bought in soya for Pig Feed
I’m on the border of wiltshire/somerset But have insufficient land of my own if any one wanted to join forces on growing for an end user or share cropping

You’d be better off finding someone to grow lupins for you. They would be about the same protein wise but probably better for LW gain. Would have the added advantage that you could feed them without having to cook them like you would Soya.

 

[Stevethemeat]

You’d be better off finding someone to grow lupins for you. They would be about the same protein wise but probably better for LW gain. Would have the added advantage that you could feed them without having to cook them like you would Soya.

That’s a good idea

 

[cosmagedon]

Have a look at Mzuri/Springfield farms on Facebook or the farm diary, Martin grew them this year.

http://mzuri.eu/category/mzuri-farm-diary/

 

[Ruston3w]

Thanks for the comments ,at the moment my plan is to strip-till around the end of March, without spraying off, then have committed to tramlines and can spray before drilling- I have struggled in the past on beet land when the sheep have left very little to spray and there is no time to wait for re-growth.Now I guess I look for a 6 row maize drill to close down to 50cm rows or a beet drill which can be got to drill soya.....
Richard.

 

[James W]

have a look at Triton website gallery , several photos of their soya this year on both 16cm and 32cm rows

 

[James W]

I have been tempted to try some soya beans this year, they will replace strip-tilled beet in the rotation.
We are doing our best to minimise cultivations, within the limitations of still growing a reduced root crop acreage and cereal wise it is going ok(mostly).
Both fields are sandy loam, both have a decent radish based cover at the moment, I doubt that they will be open enough in April to DD the soya.
I would like to strip till a little ahead of sowing to allow the soil to warm up, but that is just my feeling now, maybe by the end of April best keep as much moisture as poss and single pass sow?
Any thoughts on either; Simtech dd if spade allows,
Sub-soil, then as above
Strip-till, leave to settle/warm, maize drill,
Hire claydon to loosen/seed
Richard.

https://www.tritonseeddrills.co.uk/gallery?lightbox=dataItem-j8mg2xst1

 

[Soya UK]

Thanks for the comments ,at the moment my plan is to strip-till around the end of March, without spraying off, then have committed to tramlines and can spray before drilling- I have struggled in the past on beet land when the sheep have left very little to spray and there is no time to wait for re-growth.Now I guess I look for a 6 row maize drill to close down to 50cm rows or a beet drill which can be got to drill soya.....
Richard.

Hello Richard. Don't drill soya at the end of March - it will be a disaster... Drill at the end of April and then stick on a pre-em mix of Hallmark+Nirvana (or Stomp)

 

[Ruston3w]

Strip-till end march, not drill.......though we spoke last week and I'm happy to be guided away from strip-till(wide rows)

 

[James W]

if you have black-grass the soya will fill up with grass weeds unless you plant on 4-6inchs rows max (no matter how late you plant it), on our land stomp is more of a fertiliser on black-grass, complete waste of money

 

[Ruston3w]

not so much blackgrass, worried about amg that muddles it's way through the winter , particularly in poorer patches of cc, looks dead when we drill beet but surprising how it manages to get going again?
Richard.